Four officers involved in two fatal shootings this month in Salt Lake City used appropriate deadly force, investigators have concluded.
Another investigation is under way as the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office probes the use of force in Monday's shooting death of Wade Wagstaff, 35.Investigators will determine if the actions of Salt Lake police officers James Tracy and David Malley were within the provisions established by the law on use of lethal force.
Earlier this week, prosecutors determined the two officers who shot at Sergei Babarin after the 70-year-old man went on a killing rampage at the LDS Family History Library acted appropriately.
In the Babarin shooting, Salt Lake police officers Greg Smith and Robert Hawke were confronted by the man after he had shot and killed two people and seriously injured three others.
Babarin fired on them, and both Smith and Hawke returned fire, homicide Sgt. Jerry Mendez said.
Babarin, who had fired 20 shots in the span of just four minutes in the April 15 siege, was shot once in the head. He died in a waiting ambulance.
In the shooting, officers fired four rounds, with Hawke's weapon causing the fatal injury, Mendez said.
Salt Lake Assistant Police Chief William Shelton said Wednesday both officers' actions were reviewed by the district attorney's office. The review determines if police legally use deadly force. Separate departmental investigations look at compliance with procedures and policies regarding discharging a firearm and use of lethal force.
Both Hawke and Smith have been cleared to return to work.
-- Smith, a 20-year-veteran of the department, was also cleared in the April 7 shooting involving a bank robbery suspect.
Smith and officer Randall Hendry were in pursuit of Demetrius Cosby, a Salt Lake man who police say had just robbed Key Bank at 410 E. 400 South. In the heist, police say Cosby leveled what appeared to be a shotgun at witnesses and bank employees, taking off with cash.
He fled across 400 East, with both officers chasing him on foot. Cosby ran into Washington Mutual, robbed that bank and was walking into busy downtown traffic on 400 South, waving the gun at motorists when he was shot, police said.
An investigation revealed officers feared he was about to carjack a female motorist, Mendez said.
It was only afterward that officers discovered Cosby's weapon was a BB gun altered to appear real.
So far this year, district attorney investigators have reviewed five incidents involving Salt Lake police officers who have wounded or killed suspects.
-- The most recent probe will look at the actions of Tracy and Malley. The pair responded on a complaint of someone trashing a house Monday.
Wagstaff, 35, was armed with a pair of scissors, rapidly advanced on officers and yelled, "Shoot me," according to police.
Despite repeated orders for him to drop the scissors, Wagstaff kept advancing and was fatally shot.
This was Tracy's second fatal shooting in the four years he has been a police officer.
In 1996, he shot and killed a man who, armed with an assault rifle, had backed Tracy and another officer into a corner. That shooting was found to be justified.
Police use-of-force experts say it is not uncommon for an officer, depending on the job assignment, to be involved in more than one fatal shooting during the course of a career.
-- Salt Lake police officer Mark Nelson shot and wounded Christopher Winderlin on March 18. Winderlin, 27, was shot as he crouched under a porch and appeared to be going for a gun. It was Nelson's fourth shooting in 19 years on the force.
Each time, separate investigations by police and prosecutors concluded his use of force was appropriate. In each of Smith's shootings, investigators reached the same conclusion.
There are instances, however, where prosecutors review shooting circumstances involving police and rule the officer was wrong.
-- With Salt Lake officer Rob Joseph, prosecutors said firing his weapon 11 times at a fleeing motorist rose to the level of a criminal action. A charge of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, was filed against the officer.
The shooting, prosecutors allege, was outside the boundaries of justified lethal force for a couple of reasons. First, prosecutors assert Joseph could not demonstrate he feared for his own life or that of another. He also could not prove that by allowing the man to flee he knew he was jeopardizing public safety.
-- Earlier this year, a Weber County sheriff's deputy shot and wounded a man fleeing from his custody.
The shooting, which happened near Bountiful, was deemed "non-justified" by the Davis County Attorney's Office.
Davis County Attorney Mel Wilson said deputy Mike Howard's use of deadly force did not meet restrictions imposed by state law.
But, Wilson said there was not enough criminal evidence to warrant a prosecution. Howard fired his weapon once.
In contrast, prosecutors filed multiple felony aggravated assault charges against Joseph. He fired his weapon 11 times.