Google Maps image of the Jefferson School Apartments on West Temple. (PHOTO: Google Maps)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Police evacuated residents of a Salt Lake apartment building after reports of a man with a gun possibly barricading himself inside. Turns out, he wasn’t inside like witnesses believe and the evacuation has been lifted.
Officers responded to the Jefferson School Apartments at 1011 S. West Temple around 10:23 a.m. Monday, after someone claimed they heard gunfire. When officers arrived, they learned there was a lot more to the situation.
Salt Lake Police Sergeant Keith Horrocks says, “[We found out] what had happened was a possible domestic violence situation where a man had taken his wife hostage for a short time.”
The woman was able to escape, and police aren’t certain if she was injured. However, witnesses told officer the man went back into his apartment and had several guns with him.
“There may have also been a neighbor dispute that happened with regard to this, where some damage was done to a door,” Horrocks says
SWAT units were called to talk the man out of the apartment, however, after being on scene for hours, they learned he wasn’t home and left before police arrived. Horrocks says the suspect was later spotted in Bountiful and taken into custody.