Salt Lake City officers shoot man after Mental Health Awareness Team requests police assistance

The shooting occurred in the garage of a Sugar House, police said.

Two Salt Lake City police officers shot and seriously injured a 37-year-old man Tuesday at Sugar House after a Mobile Crisis Awareness Team called in police for assistance, a spokesperson for the city said. police at the scene.

The shooting happened shortly after 11:30 a.m. at a home near 900 East and 1700 South, after police said the Mobile Crisis Awareness Team with the Huntsman Institute of Mental Health was already in the area and called Salt Lake City police for reinforcements, the police spokesman said.

Mobile Crisis Response Teams are made up of trained and licensed clinicians and peer support specialists who provide support to people experiencing a mental health crisis. It was unclear on Tuesday why the outreach team initially responded to the house.

When the outreach team arrived, the 37-year-old man was in a garage detached from the house. Together, responding social workers and a family member contacted him, police said. It is unclear what prompted the outreach team to seek police assistance.

When police arrived, they were met by social workers and the family member, who together escorted officers to the detached garage, police said.

Inside the garage, social workers and the parent spoke with the man, police said. It was then that police said the man had taken a weapon. The two officers then fired shots.

It is unknown what type of weapon the man attained; the police did not specify. No officers were injured in the shooting.

“Today our officers took action to protect two social workers and a family member during an incident that unfolded in a split second,” Police Chief Mike Brown said in a statement. release Tuesday evening.

“Our officers have been asked by social workers to respond to this call for their protection and assistance,” Brown said in the statement. “These are situations that are never predictable, but our two officers involved relied on their training and experience to protect others and themselves.”

After the shooting, responders along with Salt Lake City Fire Department personnel provided first aid to the man before he was taken to a local hospital. Police say the man, who has not been identified, suffered serious injuries.

The two Salt Lake City officers who opened fire have been placed on administrative leave in accordance with department procedure, the police spokesperson said.

According to the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, when a call comes in to the Utah crisis line, which could result in the deployment of a mobile outreach team, “thorough” risk assessments are conducted over the phone to determine s ‘It would be safe for a team to respond, Rachel Lucynski, director of community crisis services at the institute, said.

“It’s an outlier when law enforcement support and backup is requested, but it happens,” Lucynski said. “Generally, our [mobile crisis outreach team] staff will call law enforcement for on-site backup or assistance if a risk assessment determines that there may be a potential threat to the safety of our staff.

Lucynski did not provide further details about the nature of the crisis line call on Tuesday which then resulted in a police shootout.

It was the 16th police shooting in Utah so far this year, according to a database maintained by the Salt Lake Tribune.