Struggle over gun leads to officer-involved shooting near Dugway

A struggle over a shotgun with a suicidal man led to an officer-involved shooting near Dugway.

The Tooele County Sheriff's Office said two deputies were dispatched to a suicidal man Monday afternoon at the Johnson's Pass summit on state Route 199. When the officers got there, one noticed the man was sitting in a car with a shotgun between his knees.

"When the subject noticed deputy (Aaron) Bird, he immediately yelled for the deputy to leave and put the shotgun in his own mouth," Tooele County Sheriff Frank Park said in a statement Tuesday. "Deputy Bird moved away from the vehicle, telling the subject to calm down."

When the man removed the gun from his mouth, police said Bird grabbed it and a struggle ensued. The shotgun went off, blowing a hole in the car's roof.

Deputy Shandy Lewis thought her colleague had been shot and fired off a round at the man's car, Park said. It hit the passenger door but did not enter the vehicle.

Bird then signaled to Lewis that he had not been hit, Park said.

Lewis hit the man with her Taser, and Bird was able to grab the gun away from the 35-year-old man. He was later taken to the hospital and booked into jail on investigation of aggravated assault, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

Lewis is on administrative leave pending an investigation into the shooting. Park praised the deputies for watching out for each other and saving the man's life.

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