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Utah police shoot armed burglar

By Nate Carlisle
The Salt Lake Tribune

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah Police in Taylorsville say an officer early Monday shot and wounded a burglary suspect who was carrying a gun.

The 21-year-old suspect was in stable condition at LDS hospital later in the day and is expected to survive.

The incident began about 4:30 a.m. Monday at the Del Sol Bakery, 4846 S. Redwood Road. A baker told police he arrived for work, heard noises, looked up and saw feet dangling from the ceiling, said Taylorsville police Sgt. Rosie Rivera.

The baker ran outside and called 911. Officers arrived with a police dog and began searching the bakery.

Rivera said police entered a rear office, where the suspect came from behind a 3-foot-tall wall holding a gun. Police gave orders to the suspect before one officer fired.

“If he obeyed [the commands] he would not be shot,” Rivera said.

Rivera said she did not know how many bullets struck the suspect, though she said he had a wound in the upper torso. She said one police officer is on leave while the case is investigated - standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting.

Police did not release the suspect’s name on Monday morning. Detectives are trying to determine whether he is connected to about eight other business burglaries in the Taylorsville area where the thieves cut holes through the roof, Rivera said.

Copyright 2007 The Salt Lake Tribune