MURRAY — A confrontation between police and an armed robbery suspect ended with no one being injured early Friday.
“The result of the event was better than could be asked for,” said Murray police detective Kenny Bass. “If we can do that every call, that’s our goal.”
Thursday night, a transgender woman went to gas station in Murray and took a bottled water at gunpoint, according to a police. The clerk called police who located the suspect a short time later.
Police had also received information that the person may be suicidal, Bass said.
For more than an hour, officers talked to the suspect and tried to de-escalate the situation, according to Bass. At one point the robber pointed a gun at officers and fired a round in the air, the affidavit states.
Still, Bass said the officers, who were taking cover behind their vehicles, felt confident enough to continue talking rather than shooting.
After more than an hour of talking, Ian Michael Long, 21, surrendered without further incident.
She was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated robbery, assault on a police officer, theft and illegal discharge of a firearm.
Bass did not know Friday whether the scrutiny police officers nationwide have faced in recent weeks had any effect on how the officers in Thursday night’s confrontation reacted.