- A Utah officer was found to be legally justified in shooting Joshua Boggess.
- Boggess, suicidal and armed, was charged with multiple offenses after the incident.
- The officer acted after Boggess pointed a gun at him, investigators say.
DUCHESNE — A Department of Natural Resources officer was legally justified in shooting an armed and suicidal man in April, the Duchesne County Attorney's Office has determined.
On April 15, Joshua David Boggess, of West Valley City, who allegedly had been drinking, pointed a gun at his young son and then left his home and claimed he was suicidal, according to the final report of the police shooting released by the Duchesne County Attorney's Office.
Boggess then drove to Heber City. Witnesses say he was driving recklessly and police issued an "attempt to locate" for his vehicle. Later, a second "attempt to locate" bulletin was issued for officers in the Uintah Basin when it was learned that Boggess may be headed to Duchesne, according to court documents.
"Conservation officer Morgan Larsen heard the ATL and located the black truck. Officer Larsen observed the truck crossing both the center line and the solid white line. Officer Larsen initiated a traffic stop, and Mr. Boggess pulled over at a gas station in Duchesne," the report states.
Larsen noted that Boggess appeared to be under the influence and asked him to turn his vehicle off. Boggess, however, did not comply with the officer's commands and Larsen called for backup, according to the report.
"Mr. Boggess then informed officer Larsen that he was suicidal, to which officer Larsen replied, 'I don't want you to hurt yourself.' At this point, Mr. Boggess turned off his truck and gave his keys to officer Larsen," the report states.
Boggess then told the officer he had a gun in his truck.
"Upon learning about the gun, officer Larsen told Mr. Boggess, 'I want to get you away from the gun, because I don't want you to kill yourself. Don't reach for it,'" according to the report.
But Boggess refused to get out of his vehicle.
"I'm either going to do it with that, or you're going to do it with that," he told Larsen, referring to the officer's gun and his own gun.
"Joshua, do not do it. Joshua, don't do it," Larsen told him. "Mr. Boggess then reached for and grabbed the gun that was in the truck as officer Larsen opened the driver's door to the truck," the report states.
Larsen twice ordered Boggess to drop his gun.
"Mr. Boggess then pointed the gun at officer Larsen. Officer Larsen reported he saw the slide and believed it to be a semi-automatic style handgun, and saw the bore point in his direction," according to the report. "In response, officer Larsen fired four shots in quick succession, followed by another three shots as he backed away from the driver's door. Mr. Boggess was hit multiple times in the left elbow and multiple times in the abdomen."
Boggess, who suffered injuries that weren't life-threatening, was charged on April 24 in 8th District Court with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; DUI, a class A misdemeanor; carrying a weapon while under the influence and being an alcohol restricted driver, class B misdemeanors; and having an open container of alcohol in the car, a class C misdemeanor.
It was later determined that Boggess' gun was not loaded correctly. However, the county attorney's final report notes that Larsen had no way of knowing that.
"No evidence made available to the Duchesne County Attorney's Office suggests that officer Larsen was aware that Mr. Boggess's gun was incorrectly loaded. This immediate threat — Mr. Boggess pointing a gun at officer Larsen — constituted an immediate clear and present danger of death or serious bodily harm," according to the report.
"Officer Larsen was justified in using deadly force because he either did or could have reasonably believed that firing his gun at Mr. Boggess was necessary to prevent Mr. Boggess from causing death or serious bodily injury to officer Larsen."
According to a motion filed by Boggess's attorney in May, "He will be getting therapy for his depression and underlying mental health issues, which caused him to become suicidal. He is currently not suicidal. It was never his intent for the officer to be hurt."
