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Shelter in place lifted after hours-long Sandy SWAT standoff

Posted at 6:55 AM, Feb 16, 2024
and last updated 2024-02-16 08:55:55-05

SANDY, Utah — Residents were asked to shelter in place as the SWAT team and police officers worked for hours Thursday night to take a suspect into custody who barricaded himself inside a home.

The standoff situation was triggered at around 7:30 p.m. on Kimsbrough Road when officers from the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team tried to take a wanted suspect into custody.

"Somehow the suspect saw that the officers were approaching, turned around, ran back inside the house and...barricaded himself inside the home," explained Sgt. Greg Moffitt with the Sandy Police Department.

Extra support from Sandy police officers and the SWAT team headed to the area to help as the situation unfolded.

An armored vehicle was deployed to the scene and Moffitt told FOX 13 News teams used tear gas to try and draw the suspect outside.

Residents in the neighborhood were asked to stay inside their homes for hours to allow officers to focus on and mitigate any potential threats.

"They can go active and so we want to just, you know, again, mitigate any sort of threat to them," Moffitt explained. "So asking them to stay inside...When people do step outside their house, it can cause a little bit of an issue because it is a distraction to the officers or the attack members."

When Moffitt spoke to FOX 13 News Thursday night, he had no idea when the situation would wrap up, saying safety was the number one priority.

"It's better to let things kind of run their course than it is to try and push the issue too much," he explained. "So if we have to, we'll wait it out for several more hours."

Friday morning, Moffitt told FOX 13 News officers were able to find the man hiding in the house and took him into custody.

The man sustained injuries due to a struggle with officers, but no shots were fired by either party, Moffitt said. Additionally, no officers were injured in the SWAT situation.

Moffitt was unable to report what the man was wanted for and his identity, saying it was a U.S. Marshals case.

Sandy residents woke up Friday morning able to safely leave their homes as the scene was cleared during the overnight hours.