The names of the Tooele County Sheriff deputy and Utah Highway Patrol trooper connected to the officer-involved shooting at Clean Harbors last month will not be released for at least another week, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
At the request of the agencies involved, the names will not be released until the investigation into the Feb. 26 shooting at Aragonite is complete, Utah County Sheriff Sgt. Spencer Cannon said.
The deputy and trooper have been placed on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation into the shooting, according to Tooele County Sheriff Paul Wimmer. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the outside investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
The name of the man shot by police, Barry Michael Zumwalt, was released two days after he was shot and later died after threatening to blow up propane tanks at Clean Harbors incineration facility.
Zumwalt, 36, was a West Valley City resident and U.S. Navy veteran with a history of mental health struggles, according to Cannon.
The Tooele County Sheriff’s Office and Utah Highway Patrol were dispatched to the remote incineration facility around 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 26, due to reports of a suspicious person making threats to blow up the facility, according to Wimmer.
The incident began after two employees at the facility spoke with Zumwalt outside the entrance and asked if he needed help, according to a release from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. Zumwalt declined assistance before following other employees into the fenced perimeter at Clean Harbors a short time later.
Clean Harbors employees reported they approached Zumwalt after he passed the fence and told him to leave, according to Cannon. After he was asked to leave, Zumwalt initiated a physical confrontation with employees and threatened to blow them up.
During the altercation, Zumwalt raised his arms, exposing a holstered gun to the employees, according to Cannon.
The sheriff’s deputy and trooper arrived at the facility about 15 minutes after the call from dispatch, Wimmer said. When law enforcement officers exited their cars and confronted Zumwalt, they gave several commands, Cannon said.
Zumwalt, armed with a rifle and handgun, refused to cooperate and threatened the officers, Cannon said. The deputy and trooper opened fire from about 160 feet away and he was struck.
After the shots were fired, the injured Zumwalt crawled under his vehicle and the responding officers did not approach, Wimmer said. Due to threats the suspect had made, it was unknown if he had explosives with him or in his vehicle. A bomb squad was called to respond to the scene.
The bomb squad used a robot but were unable to receive a response from Zumwalt and eventually a SWAT team was called to approach the vehicle, Wimmer said. It was then determined the suspect was deceased, though the sheriff’s office said the cause of death is still under investigation.