Farmington police officer found justified in killing gunman beating, threatening wife

FARMINGTON — The Davis County Attorney's Office determined a Farmington police officer was legally justified in shooting and killing an armed man involved in a fight last year with his unarmed wife.

A review of the incident showed the officer's actions fell within guidelines in state law outlining permissible use of force, said David Cole, chief criminal deputy in the Davis County Attorney's Office, in a letter to Farmington Police Chief Austin Anderson.

"Consequently, he is entitled to the defense of justification under the statute, and we therefore decline to prosecute him," he wrote in the Jan. 28 letter, supplied to KSL in response to a public records request.

Shaun Connery Oliver, 58, was shot and killed by a Farmington police officer outside a neighbor's home in Farmington in the early morning hours of April 21, 2025. Three officers had been responding to a report that Oliver was pointing a gun at his wife and threatening to kill her.

The initial press release, issued the morning after the incident, offered few details about what happened. A summary of the investigation into the incident, also supplied to KSL this week, offers more details, though names of the officers and some of the others involved and other details are redacted.

The investigation summary called the conflict between Oliver and his wife a "domestic violence incident." The woman had fled from their home to a neighbor's home across the street, yelling for help, her husband following her with a handgun. Neighbors called police and "reported to dispatch that the male was pointing the gun at the female's head and threatening to kill her," the summary states.

Two Farmington police officers and a Kaysville police officer responded, finding Oliver and his wife outside the neighbor's home. The man "was seen standing with his back toward the officers and pushing his body and the gun up against the victim ... who was pinned in the corner of the house," it says.

The officers ordered the man to drop his weapon, a .45-caliber handgun, and he initially raised his arms above his head, still holding the weapon, then dropped his arms to his side. Oliver refused additional orders to drop his gun, still in his hand, as his wife, crouched on the ground, covered her head and screamed. The man then turned toward his wife, and his right hand "turned to her as well," which is when one of the Farmington officers fired a single round from his rifle at the man.

"The round struck (the man) on the right side of his neck just below his ear. (The man) was immediately incapacitated and collapsed to the ground," the summary states. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman had suffered "multiple blunt force trauma strikes to her head and face" during the altercation with her husband, which caused "a brain bleed."

The incident was investigated by the Davis County Critical Incident Team. In deeming that the officer who fired the weapon was justified, the Jan. 28 letter from the Davis County Attorney's Office cited a provision of law that permits use of deadly force if it "is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to the officer or an individual other than the suspect."

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