The decision of a St. Louis grand jury to not indict a police officer there of shooting and killing an unarmed man has raised new interest in an officer involved fatal shooting in Salt Lake City.
Dillon Taylor, a white male, was shot and killed in August.
Officer Bron Cruz, who was described as non-white, shot Taylor once in the chest and once in the stomach after he refused to obey police.
Officer Cruz said he believed Taylor had a weapon and intended to use it.
No weapon was found on or near Taylor’s body.
One big difference in the two cases was officer Cruz was wearing a body camera.
Footage from the officer’s body camera (see video above) shows Officer Cruz repeatedly ordered Dillon to show his hands.
On the footage Taylor can be heard saying “Nah, fool.”
Taylor quickly raised his left hand from inside his waistband, lifted his shirt level with his armpit and quickly brought out his right hand.
At that time Officer Cruz shot Taylor twice.
Police were originally called to the convenience store in South Salt Lake to check reports of a person with a gun.
Officials said Taylor’s blood alcohol level was .18 percent when he was shot, well above the .08 legal limit.
DA Gill said Taylor’s Facebook posts show he was suicidal before the shooting.
Just two days before Taylor was shot and killed, he made the following posts on his Facebook page.
The three Salt Lake City Police officers involved in the shooting were placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation.
