Two sheriff’s deputies were shot and wounded as they patrolled the area around the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s office.
The incident occurred on Saturday morning around 10:30 a.m. Mountain Time. Deputies on the county jail’s security team approached a man sitting on the grass outside of the Salt Lake City Sheriff’s Office building, and an altercation ensued. One law enforcement officer was shot in the face, and the other was shot in the eye. The suspect was killed in an “exchange of gunfire.”
The deputy in stable condition was grazed on the cheek by a bullet and will be released from the hospital on Saturday, according to Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera. The names of the deputies have not been released.
A deputy who sustained a gunshot wound to the eye is in critical but stable condition and will undergo surgery. He is expected to survive the shooting, according to the Deseret News.
CAPITOL OFFICER KILLED AFTER BEING RAMMED BY DRIVER; SUSPECT SHOT DEAD BY POLICE
“We’re just fortunate they weren’t killed,” the sheriff said after visiting both deputies at the hospital Saturday. “Right now, we just ask for the community to pray for our deputies and all of our sheriff’s office family. It’s a tough time.”
“We’re very fortunate that he is able to go home. He had a bullet that grazed right through his cheek. He has quite a bit of damage on his face, but he’s coherent. I can tell you, mentally, it’s tough on both of them, and they have a lot to go through,” Rivera said.
The suspect, who has not been identified, “appears to be” a Hispanic male in his thirties, and deputies believe he may have been homeless, based on the items he had with him.
“This is just shocking. It’s devastating to law enforcement as a whole,” the sheriff said. The department dispatched a chaplain to the hospital to comfort family members and deployed a peer team to support deputies in the wake of the shooting.
“We’ll always survive, but sometimes getting there is tough. And we have a long road for that. This is shocking to our community and to South Salt Lake’s community and everybody that has anything to do with our jail,” Rivera said, adding that law enforcement officials from around the state and across the nation have reached out to her office. “Law enforcement sticks together in this type of thing. It’s tragic, but we’ll be OK, and it could have been a lot worse.”
Rivera acknowledged that the relationship between the public and the police has been fraught in recent months, with months of nationwide protests against police brutality taking place last summer and calls from police reform coming from both Republicans and Democrats.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The environment for law enforcement right now is extremely dangerous, and we know that.” Rivera said. “Anything can happen in any instance.”
Politicians offered their condolences and support on social media. “Ann’s and my hearts are heavy with reports of two Salt Lake County deputies shot and hospitalized. We join them and their families in prayer and hope,” Sen. Mitt Romney tweeted shortly after the shooting.
Ann’s and my hearts are heavy with reports of two Salt Lake County deputies shot and hospitalized. We join them and their families in prayer and hope.
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) April 10, 2021
Utah Governor Spencer Cox called the incident an “awful tragedy” and offered his prayers for the deputies.
Such an awful tragedy outside the Salt Lake County Jail today. Abby and I are praying for the two deputies fighting for their lives.
— Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (@GovCox) April 10, 2021
