From Deseret News archives:
Shot ends Salt Lake incident
Officer kills man after a botched carjacking
Police said at one point the man had his arm around a woman's neck and a gun to her head as he screamed that he wanted to die.
"He said he wanted to die. He wasn't going to go back to prison," Salt Lake City police detective Jeff Bedard said Friday.
It all began around 12:20 p.m. Friday when police say Steven Mark Sickler, 45, tried to steal a car being driven by Jace Snell. The Snells were visiting their daughter, who lives in the area.
According to Tamara Snell, Jace Snell's daughter, Snell got out of his car and was knocked to the ground by Sickler, who put a gun to the 67-year-old man's chest and demanded the keys. Snell's wife, Pat, was still inside the vehicle.
"My father said, 'I just wanted to get ahold of him and wring his neck,"' Tamara Snell said.
Jace Snell managed to kick Sickler, who then fled on foot. Snell then called police, his daughter said.
Michael Proud was watching television in his apartment when he heard a noise and looked out his window.
"I saw this guy standing crouched down behind the porch looking out onto the street," Proud said. "I saw this chrome-plated pistol; it looked like a 9 mm."
Proud called 911 as he watched the man, who turned and looked at him through the window.
"He looked intense," Proud said.
Proud also alerted his neighbors.
About 12:47 p.m., police said they were called to a row of multicolored rental homes near Green Street and 700 South, where an armed man had taken another man and a woman hostage. By the time police arrived, the man being held hostage had escaped, officers said.
An 11-year-old girl, who wanted to be known only as "Katia," watched what happened next through a nearby window. She said she witnessed police surround the house and saw the armed man opening and closing the front door four times in an effort to escape.
"He was really jumpy," she said Friday.
Neighbors reported hearing the police shout, "We're not here to hurt you. Just put the gun down and come out with your hands up."
Efforts to persuade Sickler to come out failed, police said. Two witnesses said they saw the hostage run out the back door, after which they heard a single gunshot.
Police said the woman was still being held by Sickler, when the patrol officer managed to get a clear shot at him.
The single gunshot was loud and made people jump.
"It was horrible," said neighbor Linda Proud. "It was thunderous. I just started to bawl when I heard it."
At police headquarters, Linda Proud said she saw the woman who was held hostage and described her as "unflappable."
