Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ROY -- Friends of a 30-year-old father shot and killed by police are reacting to his death.
Damon Lee Weems died early Saturday morning after he opened fire on officers in his living room, and they shot back. The officers weren't hurt but are on paid administrative leave while an investigation is completed.
The Roy police chief is confident that the investigation will find his officers were simply defending themselves when they shot and killed Weems.
Weems has a lengthy criminal past, but neighbors say he had turned his life around.
Friend Carlos Deveraux said, "They (Weems and his son) were out there two or three days ago playing ball."
His favorite memories of Weems are of watching Weems playing with his 10-year-old son. The news that his friend was shot and killed by police has been hard to take.
Roy Police Chief Greg Whinham said, "The phone was apparently set down inside the house. We could hear crying and screaming inside the house."
When they arrived they found Weems' mother and son, who told officers Weems was in another part of the apartment with a gun.
"We tried to have communication with him, and he fired a round through the door, through the closed door into the hallway," Whinham said.
They were evacuating the grandmother and son when another shot was fired. Then Weems entered the living room, armed with a shotgun.
"There was an exchange of gunfire inside the living quarters between the suspect and the officers," Whinham said.
Weeems died at the scene.
He had a lengthy criminal past, including drug, weapons and assault charges. He'd been released from prison last year, and neighbors say he was changing his life, working long hours at a dog food packaging plant and spending time with his son.
Deveraux wishes he'd been able to talk to his friend about those changes last night, before everything took a deadly twist.
"I would've gone into that apartment. I don't care if SWAT or whoever was in there, he was a good man," he said.
The names of the police officers haven't been released, but we're told one is a 25-year veteran of the force, the other has eight years experience and is a K-9 officer.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
