- Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill determined three officers were legally justified in shooting and killing Joshua Watson.
- Watson led police on a slow-speed chase, held a gun to his head, and pointed it at officers in March.
- Officers fired 15 rounds, killing the Riverton man.
RIVERTON — Three officers were legally justified in shooting and killing a Riverton man holding a gun following a slow-speed chase across the Salt Lake Valley, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Friday.
On March 8, Sandy police started following Joshua Mel-Scott Watson, 40, in connection with a series of vehicle burglaries. In what police described as a “low-speed pursuit,” officers followed Watson, who was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe, through Sandy, Herriman and Riverton. After identifying Watson and while still following him, Riverton police informed other agencies pursuing Watson that three stolen vehicles were recovered from his property a week earlier, according to Gill’s report. Police then sent several Riverton units to Watson’s street in case he decided to go there.
About 45 minutes after first spotting the Tahoe, officers from Sandy, Herriman and Riverton were able to successfully spike two of the vehicle’s tires on Redwood Road north of Camp Williams. A third tire was spiked minutes later near 14600 S. Redwood…