Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Chandler Grillone, 32, died after being shot by police during a confrontation.
- The incident occurred during a traffic stop, where Grillone approached with a weapon, according to Salt Lake police.
- An external agency is investigating the shooting, and results will go to the district attorney.
SALT LAKE CITY — An overnight traffic stop ended with police shooting a man who wasn't involved. The man, 32-year-old Chandler Grillone, died in the hospital on Friday, according to an update from Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown.
About 1:40 a.m. Thursday, a Salt Lake City police officer pulled over a vehicle near 375 South and 765 West.
"During the investigation, Grillone, who was not involved in the traffic stop, approached the officer on scene. The SLCPD officer gave multiple commands to Grillone — who had a weapon. The suspect confronted, challenged, and attacked the SLCPD officer. During the incident, the SLCPD officer fired at least one round," the department stated in an update about the incident on Friday.
Grillone was shot and taken to a local hospital in critical condition, where he died from his injuries the next day.
The police originally reported that the officer wasn't injured, but in the update, they stated that he received an injury that was not considered life-threatening from a weapon "consistent with a sharp-edged object." According to the statement, police can't disclose the type of weapon they say he was armed with because of the active investigation.
The driver who was pulled over was not involved in the shooting and, at one point, tried to help the officer with the armed man, police say.
"Our police officers are highly trained," Chief Mike Brown said in a prepared statement Thursday. "Whenever there is a threat to our community or our officers, I have absolute confidence in their ability to act with speed and courage to eliminate the danger and protect everyone. This appears to have been yet again another rapidly unfolding, life-threatening, and dangerous situation. Our officers have my full support."
An officer-involved critical incident protocol was invoked, meaning an outside agency was called to investigate the shooting. The results will be turned over to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, which will determine whether the officer was justified in using deadly force.
Statewide, there have been four police shootings in a five-day period this year.
