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UTAH COUNTY -- Utah County deputies shot and killed a man near Utah Lake Tuesday.
The man had called 911 and appeared to be suicidal. When deputies approached him, they say he pointed a gun at them.
The man has only been identified, so far, as a 50-year-old Utah County resident. Right now, an investigation team is looking at exactly what happened.
It all started after the man called 911 around 9:30 a.m. and reported he was suicidal.
"He had stated he had taken some pills and threatened any officers who would respond. And also, they heard approximately six gun shots throughout the conversation," explained Utah County sheriff's Lt. Darren Gilbert.
That was the last dispatchers heard from the man, but his cell phone call remained connected to 911. They later heard the man having trouble breathing.
Dispatchers were able determine the man's general location by tracking his cell phone, and a sheriff's department plane spotted the truck from the air near Lincoln Beach at Utah Lake.
Around 11 a.m., two deputies approached the truck in their patrol car. Investigators said the driver rammed them with his pickup, led officers on a short chase, and then suddenly stopped.
"The 50-year-old male individual actually exited his vehicle and pointed a gun and threatened officers; pointed a gun directly at officers and threatened them, and that resulted in shots being fired from two separate deputies at the suspect--which resulted in the suspect's death at the scene," Gilbert said.
Investigators closed the road, but Chopper 5 was able to get a look at the scene. The suspect was driving a white pickup truck, but it was unclear exactly which police vehicle was rammed by the suspect.
An independent team of investigators will now make a determination on whether deputies were justified in firing on the man. So far, they are not giving any information about the man's background or a possible criminal history.
Both deputies are on administrative leave while a special protocol team is investigating.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
