Flowers are placed on the car of Officer Joseph Shinners. Officials held a press conference in the Provo City Council chambers announcing that Officer Joseph Shinners is the officer killed in a overnight shooting in Orem on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
OREM — The Orem Police Department, which is assisting in the investigation of the death of a Provo officer, has released the name of the man accused of killing him.
Police say 40-year-old Matt Hoover, who had two outstanding felony warrants at the time of his arrest, will also face charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, possession of methamphetamine and possession of a weapon by a restricted person.
Investigators say Hoover knew officer were looking for him, but, Orem Lieutenant Trent Colledge says Hover had been telling everyone he wouldn’t go quietly.
Colledge says, “We had received information, previously, from third parties that he had made comments that he was not going back to prison. He knew that he was facing charges and had warrants, but he wasn’t going back to prison.”
Viewers had been asking KSL if Shinners may have been hit by another bullet. Colledge says the answer to that is an emphatic “no.”
“It’s an open investigation, but, we do know that only one officer fired,” Colledge says.
Hoover has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for drug possession, retail theft and forgery.
Provo police officer Joseph Shinners was shot in Orem late Saturday, Jan. 5, 2018, while responding to a report of a wanted fugitive. He later died at Utah Valley Hospital. (Photo: Provo Police Department)
Officer Joseph Shinners died over the weekend after the shooting near Bed Bath and Beyond at 50 W. University Parkway. He was identified as a three-year veteran of the Provo force, the son of a retired firefighter and brother of another police officer in Massachusetts, where he grew up.
Provo Police Chief Rich Ferguson promoted him posthumously.
“Joseph Shinners is the officer you would want to show up on your doorstep in your crucible moment,” he said.
The Provo Police Department has released details about funeral services for Shinners.