Residents of Tremonton, a northern Utah town, are in mourning after two of the city’s police officers were fatally shot and a Box Elder County sheriff’s deputy and his police K-9 were wounded Sunday night.
“We’ve always grown up in small towns where stuff like this doesn’t really happen,” said Tiffany Taylor, who lives two doors away from the house where the officers were gunned down. “For something like this to happen was, it’s kind of surreal. It’s kind of hard to like process as reality.”
Gov. Spencer Cox, in an announcement Monday afternoon, identified the officers as Sgt. Lee Sorensen and Officer Eric Estrada. Cox said U.S. and Utah flags at all state facilities would be flown at half-staff in their honor.
Across Tremonton, residents are placing American flags and blue ribbons on homes, fences, and street poles to honor the fallen officers — who are two of only 21 officers in the department.
One such blue ribbon was visible across the street from the house near 700 North block and 200 East where the shooting occurred.
Immediately met with gunfire
Officers from the Tremonton-Garland Police Department responded after someone called 911 several times and hung up, according to a news release from the neighboring Brigham City Police Department sent early Monday morning.
The first call came in at 9:02 p.m. Sunday and the first officer arrived 16 minutes later, according to Brigham City police.
A Tremonton officer was talking to an occupant of the house who had reported an apparent domestic disturbance, the release said.
“Upon arrival, they immediately began taking fire,” Crystal Beck, a spokesperson for Brigham City police, said in a Monday morning news briefing. “They requested additional units, and then stopped answering their radio.”
According to a probable cause statement, a man came out with a high-powered rifle “and opened fire on two officers, fatally wounding both.” A rifle and spent shell casings were later found at the house.
A third law officer, a deputy from the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office who had been dispatched to assist the Tremonton police, had just arrived when the man fired several rounds into the deputy’s vehicle, hitting both the deputy and the deputy’s K-9, according to police.
Police said bystanders then talked the man suspected in the shootings into putting down his weapon Sunday night. As of Monday afternoon, though, the person or people who persuaded the man to drop his gun had not come forward.
A SWAT team responded — which Beck called “typical protocol with shots being fired” — and searched the home, verifying there was no remaining threat, police said.
Investigators learned that before police arrived, according to the probable cause statement, the man had slammed his wife’s head into a door frame.
A community shaken
Broken window blinds dangled from shattered glass Monday afternoon at the Tremonton home.
Taylor said she was outside Sunday evening when a police officer stopped by and asked if she had been calling 911. Ten to 15 minutes later, she heard the first gunshot.
After her husband drove to check out the disturbance, they learned there was a shooter at the home. Taylor said she and her husband then sheltered in place.
“It’s heartbreaking for them,” she said of the officers, “and their family and the community.”
Christopher Lutz, another neighbor, said he watched most of the encounter from a bench on his front lawn.
“It was very scary,” Lutz said. “We got to see him [an officer] breach the house. Heard the window shatter. They were yelling out for the occupants to come outside. It was very interesting. It was a crazy night.”
Arlene Oyler lives next door to the home. She said at first she thought she heard fireworks. When she later saw police cars, she understood what was happening.
It will be hard for the neighborhood to move on after the shootings, Oyler said.
Monday also marked the beginning of the 100th anniversary of the Box Elder County Fair and Golden Spike Rodeo, which she said will now carry a different weight.
“It just won’t be the same,” Oyler said. “I’m sure that there will be the people coming to it and stuff, but there won’t be the feeling that there was.”
Monday night’s All Horse Parade at the Box Elder County Fairgrounds was canceled, county officials announced. Instead, those participating in the parade were invited to join a procession honoring the officers who were killed.
Maryann May, who works at Bear River Floral in Tremonton, said the shop has been busier than usual ever since it opened Monday morning.
Family members of the fallen officers, neighbors seeking ribbons and flowers, and the mayor — who picked up bouquets for the officers’ wives — have all stopped in.
“Everybody in this community,” May said, “has stepped up.”
Agencies banding together
The wounded sheriff’s deputy and his K-9 were evacuated to an area hospital and a specialty veterinary clinic.
The deputy was released from the hospital Monday morning, Brigham City Police Chief Chad Reyes told reporters. The police dog was set to remain at the veterinary clinic for observation.
Domestic disturbance calls are often the most dangerous that law enforcement officers face, Reyes said. “They really are unknown,” he said. “We don’t know what we’re walking into.”
Law enforcement officers from Box Elder, Weber, and Cache counties responded to assist, said Beck, the Brigham City police spokesperson.
Agencies around Tremonton are a close-knit law enforcement community, Reyes said, and share dispatch services and other facilities.
“When an incident like this occurs,” he said, “it’s all hands on deck.”
The suspected shooter was initially booked into the Box Elder County jail on suspicion of aggravated murder, police said.
He has since been moved to the Weber County jail. The Weber County Attorney’s Office will coordinate the homicide investigation.
Law enforcement vehicles from around northern Utah formed a procession to escort the bodies of the two officers to the state medical examiner’s office in Taylorsville, Reyes said.
“The law enforcement community stands in mourning following a senseless tragedy and brutal act of violence,” Brad Bishop, president of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, said in a statement Monday.
“Law enforcement officers take an oath to protect their communities, and promise to respond anywhere, anytime, putting their lives on [the] line every day without a second thought,” said Bishop, who is the police chief in Payson. “No response is more complex and unpredictable than a domestic violence call, and none creates more potential danger for our officers.”
‘Forever remembered as heroes’
When asked how violence like this affects a small town like Tremonton, Beck, replied, “I don’t think it’s easy for big towns. I don’t think it’s easy for anyone in your community to be injured. … It leaves a big impact when any officer is involved in something like this. It affects not only the officers here in our community, but also all over Utah, all over the nation.”
In a statement, the Tremonton-Garland Police Department said, “Tragedies like these rock an entire community, state and even nation. These officers and their families served theirs every day, and they will forever be remembered as heroes.”
U.S. Rep. Blake Moore, who represents Tremonton, addressed the shooting during an appearance at the University of Utah on Monday, saying it was a “tough day” for his district and a “shock” for the community.
“It’s just kind of a realization of how difficult that job is,” Moore said. “Anytime something really devastating happens in your district, you’re completely powerless to do anything about it and to console the folks ... about it. You put out a statement, call the mayor, but it’s just a reminder of the dangers our law enforcement officers go through.”
Cox, posting Monday on social media, wrote: “A terrible and tragic night. Abby and I join the entire state in mourning the loss of these courageous law enforcement officers. Our support and prayers go out to their families and fellow officers. May God bless all those who put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe.”
Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, whose district covers parts of Davis and Weber counties, posted on social media: “The loss of these brave officers is a reminder of the sacrifice law enforcement makes every day to keep our communities safe. Utah stands united in praying for the families, the wounded deputy, and all who serve to keep us safe.”
More than 150 law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty in Utah’s history, according to the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial’s board of directors.
As part of its mission statement, the memorial provides support and financial assistance to the families of fallen officers.
“These two fallen officers exemplified the bravery and selflessness found throughout law enforcement by putting themselves in harm’s way to protect the residents they serve,” the memorial’s president, Draper Police Capt. Pat Evans, said in a statement. “We will never forget their sacrifice, and we honor their lives.”
— The Salt Lake Tribune government reporter Addy Baird contributed to this article.
