Police suspect Iraq vet in shooting of six officers in Utah

Police suspect Army vet in shooting of six officers

By James Nelson
OGDEN, Utah
Thu Jan 5, 2012 5:10pm EST

(Reuters) - Six police officers were shot, one of them fatally, when a gunman said to be a U.S. Army veteran opened fire on them as they served a drug-related search warrant in Utah, authorities said on Thursday.

The gunman fired on the officers late on Wednesday as they approached a home in a quiet residential neighborhood of Ogden, north of Salt Lake City, Ogden police Lieutenant Danielle Croyle said.

"We have lost a brother. We will grieve this loss, he will be sorely missed," Weber County Sheriff Terry Thompson said of local drug task force agent Jared Francom, who was pronounced dead on Thursday.

Three Ogden police officers remained in critical condition at McKay-Dee Hospital, spokesman Chris Dallin said, while a Weber County Sheriff's sergeant was in stable condition.

An agent with the Roy Police Department was treated at Ogden Regional Medical Center and released, the hospital said.

Police identified the suspected gunman as 37-year-old Matthew Stewart, and said he was under guard at a hospital where he was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries suffered when officers returned fire.
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Does PTSD give anyone an excuse to commit crimes? No, considering how few reports come out of the over 2 millions sent into Iraq and Afghanistan most live peaceful lives. Are they our fault? Yes, somewhat when you consider that a lot of these standoffs with police officers could be avoided if all the help they needed was available no matter where they live. No one can stop all of this and we have to face the facts that some veterans don't want help for whatever reason. We still need to try to save the ones we can. In all of this, members of law enforcement have to face off with combat veterans that usually end badly.

Father: Suspect in deadly Utah shootout had PTSD
By PAUL FOY
The Associated Press

OGDEN, Utah — Search warrant in hand, a team of bulletproof vest-wearing officers rapped on the door of a small, red-brick Utah house, identifying themselves as police. When no one responded, authorities say, the officers burst inside. That's when the gunfire erupted.

When it was over Wednesday night, a 7-year veteran officer was dead and five of his colleagues were wounded, some critically. The suspect, an Army veteran whose estranged father said suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and may have been self-medicating with marijuana, was injured.

Now, as the city tries to grapple with the outburst of violence and the loss of one of its officers, investigators are trying to determine how the raid as part of a drug investigation could have gone so terribly wrong.

"It's a very, very sad day," an emotional Ogden Police Chief Wayne Tarwater said Thursday.

Police declined to reveal details of the shooting besides a general timeline, citing the ongoing investigation.

They would not say, for instance, whether the shootout took place entirely inside the home or spilled out into the yard, how many shots were fired and how many guns were recovered.
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