5 police officers shot man in Carbon County – legality of killing found legally justified

PRICE – Five police officers were legally authorized to shoot a man wanted in a domestic violence investigation, the Carbon County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

Just after 11:30 p.m. on July 30, officers from Price, Helper, Wellington and the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic violence incident just outside the city limits of Price. Patrick Frank Whitten, 31, “was allegedly under the influence of a controlled substance and had threatened to kill his wife,” according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.

“During the search for (Whitten), it was discovered that the spouse’s firearm, equipped with a tactical light, was missing from her residence,” prosecutors said.

For nearly three hours, officers searched a property of about three acres, including a garage, trailers, sheds, vehicles and pens. They found Whitten “crouched in a small attached animal enclosure” and armed with a gun, the district attorney said. Officers ordered him to drop the weapon.

“(Whitten) ignored the officers’ commands, grabbed the weapon with both hands and held it in a low ready position. The tactical light illuminated and (Whitten) raised the weapon toward the officers,” whereupon they fired, the statement said.

According to the results of the investigation, five police officers who fired their weapons were convinced that the use of deadly force was necessary to prevent their death or serious injury.