(Police investigating the scene of a shooting on Deann Drive. Credit: Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
WEST VALLEY CITY – A man accused of shooting his ex-wife and killing her current boyfriend has been found, dead. Investigators say the suspect took his own life in a total stranger’s shower.
While officers and forensics crews were sweeping through the scene of a deadly shooting inside a home on Deann Drive, 911 dispatchers got a call from a man living roughly three miles northeast on Hawkeye Street.
“A homeowner discovered a man who appeared to be sleeping in the shower of his home,” says West Valley Police Spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku.
That man was reportedly armed, but the family living there was able to get out safely. Vainuku says they used extreme caution when approaching the man still inside the home.
She says, “We used a robot to enter the house and determined that the person who was lying in the shower was not moving. This person did match the description of the suspect in this case.”
Officers noticed the man was still motionless after they deployed gas canisters. When police entered the home, they reportedly found Jeremy Reed Harris was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
However, they still have a lot of questions as to why Harris chose to enter that particular home on Hawkeye.
“There appears to be no connection between the suspect and the owners of that home,” she says.
Harris’ ex-wife was taken to the hospital in serious condition, but is expected to survive her injuries. Her boyfriend, Nathan Edgar Brower, was found dead on the front lawn.
“There were two children inside the home at the time, ages five and ten. The children are the children of the suspect and the female victim,” Vainuku says.
There is a history of violence between Harris and his ex-wife. Vainuku says she had a protective order in place.