- A man shot by police on I-15 in Draper died from his injuries.
- The incident occurred during a traffic stop that appears to be linked to a drug investigation.
- The officer who shot him is on leave; the driver was arrested for alleged drug possession.
DRAPER — A man shot by police during a traffic stop on I-15 in Draper on Tuesday has died from his injuries, police announced Wednesday.
About 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, a Riverton police officer pulled over a vehicle on southbound I-15 just south of the Bangerter Highway interchange. Police have not released details about why the car was pulled over, but an arrest report indicates it may have been part of a drug investigation.
"During the course of the stop, a male passenger engaged in an altercation with the officer, resulting in the officer discharging their service firearm," the Utah Department of Public Safety said. Riverton police further said in a statement Wednesday that "a male individual engaged in an altercation involving the suspect with a firearm and officers, which resulted in the discharge of an officer's duty weapon."
The injured man, who police say was armed with a gun, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition "and has since succumbed to his injuries," police said Wednesday. The man's name has not been released pending notification of his family.
The officer has been placed on standard paid administrative leave. The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody.
While police have not identified the driver, the vehicle pulled over on I-15 appears to be a red Cadillac. A police booking affidavit indicates that Herriman police detectives were conducting surveillance at a home as part of an "active narcotics investigation" and they observed two men leave the house in a red Cadillac sedan.
A Riverton police officer pulled the Cadillac over. "During the traffic stop, the unknown male passenger was observed to have a handgun on his person by one of the patrol officers. The male was ordered out of the vehicle and requested to hand over his handgun for officer safety purposes. The male refused to relinquish the handgun and began fighting patrol officers outside of the vehicle," according to the affidavit.
The arrest report does not say what happened to the passenger, but notes that the driver, Shawn Michael Shalosky, 47, "remained compliant with officers during the altercation." He was eventually booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of drug possession after police reported finding cocaine in his pocket.
All southbound traffic on I-15 was closed in Draper for about two hours on Tuesday as emergency crews and investigators attended to the police shooting.
