Shots fired, man knocked out, boy Tasered in wild West Valley incident

WEST VALLEY CITY — A wild scene played out Wednesday at a West Valley park where police investigated an unconscious man, shots were fired and they were forced to use a Taser on one individual.

About 8:20 p.m., officers were called to the area of 4400 West and 3500 South on a report of a fight. They arrived to find a 21-year-old man knocked out and unconscious on the grass, said West Valley Police Capt. Tom McLachlan. The man was taken to a local hospital in fair to critical condition, he said.

Detectives gathered information that, during the confrontation that had broken up by the time they arrived, shots were fired by several fleeing suspects, McLachlan said. A nearby pickup truck belonging to an innocent third party had its windows shot out, he said.

During their subsequent investigation, detectives contacted a possible suspect, a male who was 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, McLachlan said. He was uncooperative with investigators and refused to follow their commands, he said.

At one point it appeared that the male would physically try to resist police, McLachlan said, prompting officers to Taser him. It was only after that that officers, who thought they were dealing with an adult male based on his appearance, found out he was a 15-year-old boy.

The juvenile was released to the custody of his parents.

Later, a vehicle with two adults and two juveniles was stopped, and everyone was taken to police headquarters for questioning, McLachlan said.

As of Thursday afternoon, there was no word on possible arrests.

A motive for the initial fight was unknown Thursday.

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