SALT LAKE CITY — Two officers responding to calls of a trespasser at a Salt Lake City salon Thursday afternoon got into a fight with the suspect before shots were fired, leaving the man dead in a gas station parking lot downtown.
The officers were in the hospital and were expected to survive.
Salt Lake City police detective Robert Ungricht told reporters the grisly scene unfolded about 4 p.m. at the Maverik gas station on the south corner of 300 South and 500 East.
"A fight ensued, and during that fight, shots were fired," he said without elaborating.
West Valley City police are investigating the shooting under Salt Lake City's protocol for fatal officer-involved shootings, Ungricht said.
Ungricht declined to give the name of the man who was pronounced dead at the scene, but said he was the same person accused of trespassing nearby. And he said he didn't know whether the man wielded a weapon or how many shots were fired.
"Those things will come out in the investigation," Ungricht said. "All I know is that we did have an officer-involved shooting and we have two officers in the hospital in serious but stable condition."
He did not provide details on their injuries.
Several people were returning home to nearby apartments on the sunny Thursday evening to find police tape, two dozen officers and more than 10 police cars blocking the gas station and a wide swath of the two-lane street.
Halfway between the gas pump and the convenience store entrance, the bloodied body of the man wearing blue jeans and neon sneakers was surrounded by cones. Officers from Salt Lake City, West Valley City and Cottonwood Heights secured the scene.
The block just north of the city's light-rail line is busy, with frequent foot traffic and a dry-cleaning shop, bar and concert venue across the street.
"There were a lot of witnesses," Ungricht said, adding that "this time of day, it's a popular area."
Some police had clipboards and were speaking with people in the area who may have witnessed the incident.
Others looked on from behind caution tape south of the gas station, including Jacie Romera and Rebecca Wheatley. The pair said they were walking Wheatley's dog when they heard at least three gunshots and looked toward the gas station to see a man lying face-down. He was handcuffed and surrounded by officers, Romera said.
"I thought he was fine," Romera said, but she later realized he was dead.
Police didn't say which business they received calls from before the shooting, but Natalee Thompson said her colleagues, independent contractors who operate salons in a building on 500 East, told her they called to report a man who came into their shops without warning. He laid down on their tables used for salon waxing and initially refused to move, Thompson said.
"They asked him to leave," she said. "Several people called 911 all at the same time."
Thursday's not the first fatal, officer-involved shooting in Salt Lake City this year.
In August, officers shot and killed Patrick Harmon, 50, after he brandished a weapon when police approached him on State Street. Unified Police Department is investigating that death.
Others occurred in Roy, Ogden and Centerville after police said suspects wielded guns or fought officers.