SOUTH SALT LAKE -- An unresolved dispute between two neighbors that started with the exchange of harsh words Wednesday ended Thursday night with the shooting death of one man.
South Salt Lake police shot and killed Norris Harley Uti, 47, after he shot up a neighbor's home with a 12 gauge shotgun and then turned the weapon on police.Per department policy, all five of the officers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave. Only three of those were directly involved in the shooting, South Salt Lake Asst. Police Chief Beau Babka said.
It is the second time in two weeks South Salt Lake police have shot and killed a man.
On July 23, three officers opened fire on Brett Coon, 37, after Coon charged them with an 8-inch knife. Officers were attempting to resolve a dispute between Coon and his brother, who had called police to report Coon for stealing.
Three officers remain on leave as a result of that shooting.
"It's been a very interesting two weeks for us as a department and as an administration. If anything, it has reinforced to us how well we can do our job," Babka said.
"Hopefully, the public, our public, understands that in this type of job our officers have to do difficult things. If there is a death involved, we don't boast that. It's unfortunate that that has to happen, but if we hadn't done what we did, one of our officers probably would have been killed."
It was about 11 p.m. Thursday when officers got a "shots fired" call at the Annette Manor Apartments, 188 E. Baird Ave. (3600 South). Upon arrival, officers found a man and his wife in Apartment 1 of the east building, with a wound to his forehead from buckshot that had sprayed across their living room when their neighbor fired a gun through a side window, Babka said.
To the west, in Apartment 4, Uti was sitting in a rocking chair with a shotgun by his side and the door to his apartment open. Officers circled around the east building to a rear parking lot, where they could see into the house. Uti got up from his chair, rifle in hand, and walked out the doorway to the front stoop. He raised the shotgun and pointed it at officers and fired, Babka said.
In the volley of return shots, Uti suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene. Police are awaiting an autopsy report to determine which officer's bullets actually killed the man, Babka said.
According to police records, officers had responded to a 911 call at the same address on Wednesday night. At that time, Uti and the other man were engaged in a fist fight, after having exchanged heated words, allegedly over a remark Uti made about the other's wife, Babka said.
Believing Uti was the aggressor in the incident, police looked for him, but he apparently slipped away.
Thursday night it appears Uti intended to settle the argument with a gun.
An initial investigation indicates Uti crawled into the bushes on the north side of the couple's apartment and fired one shot through the window. He then moved to the front of the home, where he shot two rounds at close range through a pane glass window, leaving fist-sized holes, Babka said. He then returned to his own apartment, but not before firing another shot through the window of another apartment.
Neighbor Rob Lindquist said Uti, who had lived there about a year, had fired rounds off in the neighborhood previously. Neighbors had been afraid to report it to the police.
Deseret News staff writer Leo Dirr contributed to this report.