Man guilty of shooting cop sentenced to up to life in prison

Man guilty of shooting cop sentenced to up to life in prison

(Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A man found guilty by a jury last month of shooting a police officer — who then shot a bystander as he searched for the shooter — was sent to prison Thursday, potentially for life.

Jeremy Michael Bowden, 34, was ordered Thursday to serve consecutive terms of five years to life for attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and one to 15 years each for second-degree felony charges of possessing a stolen vehicle and obstructing justice.

Four additional terms of up to five years in prison for felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony, will run concurrently to each other and to the other charges.

Bowden was given credit for time served for a class A misdemeanor charge of failure to stop at the command of law enforcement. An additional charge of discharging a firearm was vacated, according to court records.

The Oct. 30, 2015, shooting occurred after a Unified police officer spotted a stolen vehicle in the parking lot of the Mouse Pad, an Internet cafe at 38 W. 7200 South, and Bowden came out of the business and approached the vehicle's driver-side door.

When the uniformed officer attempted to block the car with his own and got out of the vehicle to approach Bowden, Bowden ran, according to police.

Unified officer Cory Tsouras had arrived to provide backup and was driving alongside Bowden as he ran near Rocket Express Car Wash, 150 W. 7200 South, when Bowden fired.

One shot that struck Tsouras in the chest and one round pierced the headrest of the driver's seat in the car, charging documents state. Six shell casings were recovered from the scene.

Tsouras continued driving to get out of harm's way, then turned his patrol car around to look for the gunman. That's when he spotted a man with an "extremely close" description of Bowden trying to get inside the car wash, Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said at the time.

Tsouras fired two shots at the man, then 30-year-old Dustin Evans, as he attempted to take cover in the car wash. Evans was struck once in the arm and once in the leg. Tsouras' actions were later found not justified by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, but the officer did not face any criminal charges.

As Tsouras focused on Evans, police say Bowden fled over a wall, landing on the roof of a carport where officers later found an empty 9 mm handgun and magazine. Officers spotted Bowden scaling a fence several blocks north of the car wash, again ordered him to stop, and hit him with a Taser in order to take him into custody, charges state.

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