Orem police: Officer shot, killed man to save family member

OREM, Utah (AP) — A police officer in Orem, Utah, shot and killed a man early Saturday “to stop him from killing” a family member who was hiding in a bathroom, the police department said.

Officers were dispatched to a report of a man in mental distress who was threatening to kill himself, according to a statement. When law enforcement arrived, the man called the dispatch center and said he was armed with a gun and had explosives inside the home.

Officers entered the home as the man was breaking into the bathroom where a family member was hiding and “shots were then fired by an officer to stop the subject from killing the family member,” the statement said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

No one else in the home was injured, police said.

Further details about the shooting or the man’s identity were not released as of Saturday morning.

The shooting marked the 22nd police shooting in Utah so far this year, according to a database maintained by The Salt Lake Tribune.