Riverdale officer justified in May shooting, county attorney says

A Riverdale police officer was legally justified in using deadly force during a standoff with a suicidal man who pointed a gun at the officers, the Weber County Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday. | Adobe Stock

RIVERDALE — A Riverdale police officer was legally justified in using deadly force during a standoff with a suicidal man who pointed a gun at the officers, the Weber County Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Late on the night of May 23, police were called to the Cherry Creek Apartments, 1551 W. Riverdale Road, on a report of an “armed suicidal male.”

Investigators later learned that on May 7, Davin Stott purchased a 9 mm handgun.

“Within a day or two of this incident, Davin was made aware that a sexual assault allegation was being made against him,” according to the Weber County attorney’s report.

On May 22, Stott sent a text message to his mother stating, “I had hoped that it would not come to this. But I expected it would. So I prepared for it. I love you, but I’m not just going to sit around and wait for them to come take me away.”

That same night, he texted his girlfriend asking her to meet him so he could “tell you everything about my past that I haven’t told you,” the report states.

The woman met Stott in Farr West where he said he was going to commit suicide, according to the report. She convinced him to go back with her to their Riverdale apartment, but she could not get the gun away from him.

At the apartment, Stott continued saying he would rather be dead than go to jail, the report states. His girlfriend texted her mother to tell her what was happening. The mother called 911.

Responding officers made phone contact with the girlfriend, who claimed Stott had left the apartment. But she refused to let officers inside to make sure she was safe, the report states. Fearing that she was being held hostage, officers were eventually able to get the woman to walk outside where she confirmed Stott was still inside the apartment with a gun.

Officers attempted to make contact for an hour with Stott. They eventually went to a window of the ground level apartment where contact was made, the report states. A dialogue was started, but then the shades on the window suddenly came open and Stott was seen holding a gun.

Stott was warned five times not to have anything in his hands, and was told six times to drop the gun once he appeared in the window, the report states.

When Stott appeared to point his gun at Riverdale police officer Tyrel Dalton, Dalton fired five times through the window, striking Stott.

“I thought, ‘Holy cow, this guy is in a position where he has the drop on us, and he is clearly not surrendering,’” Dalton told the Weber County Attorney’s Office. “I see him look at me, and I see the barrel of the gun come up right at me. That is when I decided I can’t take this any further; he is going to shoot at us, and I fired several rounds.”

Stott was shot “several times on his upper body and head” but survived. Weber County Attorney Christopher Allred did not know Wednesday the status of Stott’s injuries.

As of Wednesday, Stott had not been charged in either in either the standoff or the alleged sexual assault. Allred said both cases are still being investigated.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2ZK5Bl4