Marshals office defends parking-lot shooting

WEST VALLEY CITY — A fugitive with a violent criminal history who was shot and killed here by U.S. marshals pointed a gun directly at the agents first, according to law enforcers.

The marshals office released new details Saturday into the fatal shooting of 30-year-old Robert Lynn Harris. Harris, who had a federal warrant out for his arrest, was confronted by marshals in the parking lot of Red Hanger Cleaners, 3336 W. 3500 South, Friday about 10:45 a.m.

Harris was between his truck and his ex-girlfriend's car, which were parked side-by-side. Marshals used their vehicle to block Harris from leaving. When they ordered him to surrender, he reached into his truck, pulled out a revolver and pointed it at the marshals, said U.S. Marshal Chief Deputy Jim Thompson. Fearing their safety was now in jeopardy, the officers responded by firing multiple times, hitting and killing Harris.

The marshals office is frustrated, however, over media reports of the incident. Because they were not allowed to comment at the time, the marshals say only one side of the story was told.

Harris' girlfriend, Brandy Verholtz, had broken up with him and kicked him out of their house recently. Harris had since made several threats against her, some as recent as the morning of the shooting, and family members said she feared for her life. In one text message to Verholtz, Harris said, "I'm smashing you," according to Verholtz's grandmother, Marsha Morgan.

On Friday, Harris showed up at the dry cleaning business where Verholtz worked and got into her car to talk to her, according to family members.

From there, the family and the marshals office have differing accounts of what happened next.

Verholtz's mother and grandmother told the media shortly after the shooting that police fired without warning. Verholtz's family was not present at the time of the shooting, and their accounts came from what Brandy told them.

The marshals office, however, said because the investigation was just in its genesis, it legally could not make any comments at that time. On Saturday, Thompson wanted to set the record straight.

"The suspect made that decision (to shoot) for them," Thompson said.

Harris' criminal history included a long list of charges in both state and federal court for things such as weapons violations, aggravated assault and aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison in 2001 and 36 months supervised release. On Oct. 1, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest for violating the conditions of his release.