On Sept. 19, officers tried to book a 17-year-old gang member and his two friends into a juvenile detention center for possession of two firearms — a Smith and Wesson .357 and a Hi-Point 9 mm. The juvenile detention center would not take the boys.
Two months later the 17-year-old, Justin Van Roekel, shot and killed West Jordan police officer Ron Wood.
Documents filed Monday in 3rd District Court state the juvenile detention center would not accept Van Roekel and the other two boys "on a single, non-violent offense."
But Wood, 39, was killed Nov. 18 with another Hi-Point 9 mm that police believe was stolen in a burglary in Uintah County, court documents state. Van Roekel later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Shortly after Wood's death, a teacher at Valley High School heard one of her students discussing burglaries he helped commit with Van Roekel and another boy. He claimed to be the driver in some of them and gave detailed information about one robbery in particular, court documents state.
The boy told his teacher that he sold firearms to Van Roekel and the other boy because he needed money. He told the teacher the firearms were stolen. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is performing searches to determine if the firearms were stolen, court documents state.
In early December a girl told Sandy police her friend, the student at Valley High School, had said there were additional weapons at his house, buried in the back yard, court documents state.
West Jordan police asked the boy's mother if they could search the back yard. The woman would not consent on advice of her son's attorney, court documents state.
On Dec. 9 West Jordan police officers executed a search warrant at the house, near 9000 South and 1300 West. Officers used metal detectors over the yard. But they found nothing, court documents state.
E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com