One person was dead from gunshots fired by police and two Salt Lake City police officers were injured — not by gunshots — near 300 South and 500 East on Thursday afternoon, police said.
The scene was the parking lot of a Maverik gas station at that location, police said.
At least one officer was injured after the man who was shot got hold of the officer’s baton and hit him on the head with it, according to a witness.
The witness, who was shaken up by the episode and asked not to be named, said he had noticed that the man was walking down 500 East, with the officer walking behind him.
At the gas station, the man grabbed the officer’s baton and hit him with it, the witness said.
Two other officers arrived and tried to stop the man’s attack, and that is when the man was shot.
The confrontation occurred just prior to 4:30 p.m.
Detective Robert Ungricht confirmed that one man was dead from gunshots.
Two police officers were taken to local hospitals for treatment, he said. Ungricht said the two officers were not injured by gunfire but did not say how they had been hurt. They were expected to survive.
West Valley City Police will handle the investigation, Ungricht said.
The Salt Lake Tribune will update this story as more information becomes available.