WEST JORDAN — West Jordan police have identified the driver shot and killed by police over the weekend as a 17-year-old boy from North Salt Lake.
Cyrus Carpenter declined to get out of a truck that had been reported as stolen and rapidly drew a gun, shooting a West Jordan officer in the left shoulder just above his bulletproof vest, said West Jordan Police Sgt. JC Holt. Another officer shot back, fatally injuring Carpenter.
“It was very sudden, very quick, we believe,” Holt said.
He did not know how many times Carpenter was struck or if the wounded officer had fired his own weapon. A third officer rendered first aid.
The injured 26-year-old officer, whose name Holt declined to release, was recovering Tuesday after coming home from a hospital. He has been with the department for a little over a year.
On Sunday, a different driver following the truck had called West Jordan police to report that it had been stolen recently from a relative.
Holt said Carpenter did not want to get out of the Chevy truck after being pulled near 2160 W. 7680 South about 8 p.m. Two other boys, also under the age of 18, followed officer’s commands and were detained. They were unarmed, Holt said.
Holt confirmed Carpenter had an “extensive” juvenile record but that he didn’t know specifics of the allegations.
None of the officers was equipped with a body camera, Holt said, although dashcam footage from two police cars was recovered.
West Jordan police have about 30 body cameras, enough for only a fraction of its 125 officers. Although the cameras are not expensive, data storage costs are hefty and have prevented the department from buying more, Holt said.
“We don’t have every officer equipped with one, unfortunately,” Holt said.