By Police1 Staff
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Recently released body cam footage shows a Utah officer fatally shooting a man who broke into a home.
On April 8, 20-year-old Elijah James Smith was running from police, who were searching for someone suspected of stealing from a cellphone store, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. An officer saw Smith, who matched the suspect description, hop over a fence into a yard, where the homeowner told Smith to leave.
After Smith left, officers saw Smith enter another house where three children were home alone. Police found Smith standing next to a car in the home’s garage.
Chief Colleen Jacobs said officers ordered Smith 15 times in 24 seconds to show his hands. Smith raised his left hand, then raised his right elbow while pulling his hand of his pocket.
Jacobs said the officers perceived Smith raising his right arm rapidly as a threat, prompting one officer to fire three shots at Smith, killing him. Police later found a “modified” screwdriver next to Smith. Jacobs declined to say how the screwdriver was modified, but added that investigators believed it was in his pocket.
Police said they found two cell phones in the yard of the first house Smith hid in. Investigators haven’t determined if they came from the cellphone store, but “to my knowledge, they have video from the store, and it was Mr. Smith who was in the store,” Jacobs said.
Smith’s death sparked outcry and protests in the community, with many calling for the firing of the officer who fatally shot him. Jacobs said her officers followed protocol.
The unidentified officer who fired the shots has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol. Jacobs said the other two officers involved are on duty.