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Joseph Anthony Manhard

Age : 31

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 09/10/2021

Location : 1645 S. Tuscany Grove Circle

City : Farmington

County : Davis

State : Utah

Agency : Salt Lake City Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police sniper during SWAT hostage standoff

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 09/10/2021, a Salt Lake City Police Department SWAT sniper shot and killed 31-year-old Joseph Anthony Manhard after an approximately seven-hour hostage standoff at a Farmington residence. Manhard was born 09/22/1989 and died twelve days before his 32nd birthday; some police and news reports incorrectly listed him as 32.
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The events began after police sought Manhard in connection with an alleged domestic-violence incident involving an ex-girlfriend two days earlier. He had been charged on 09/09/2021 with aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping, both first-degree felonies, and unauthorized vehicle control, and a no-bail arrest warrant had been issued. Police alleged he had threatened to kill the woman and himself with a firearm.
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At approximately 1:30 a.m. on September 10, Clearfield police located Manhard and attempted to arrest him. Police said he drove away into the Freeport Center and abandoned his vehicle. While officers were investigating the abandoned vehicle, a nearby woman called 911 and reported that a man had carjacked her at gunpoint. Police attributed the carjacking to Manhard.
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Police said Manhard fired a gun during the carjacking and drove away in the woman's vehicle. Utah Highway Patrol troopers and Davis County sheriff's deputies subsequently pursued him south on Interstate 15. Police used spike strips, and Manhard eventually abandoned the disabled vehicle near Shepard Lane in Farmington and ran across I-15 into a residential neighborhood.
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During the search, police said Manhard fired a shot through the front window of one residence while apparently attempting to enter it. The bullet penetrated the glass, but Manhard did not enter that house. He then entered the residence at 1645 S. Tuscany Grove Circle through an open basement window.
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Members of the family were inside. Early police accounts described five hostages, although the later Davis County Attorney report stated that three people were in the house when Manhard entered. One daughter escaped through a basement window. Manhard later allowed the father to leave the house. The remaining family members were held inside while police surrounded the residence.
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Multiple agencies responded, including Farmington police, Davis County Sheriff's Office and Salt Lake City Police Department SWAT. Negotiations continued for several hours. Salt Lake City deployed a SWAT sniper and spotter.
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The later prosecutor's review established substantially more detail about the fatal shooting than the initial reports. At approximately 9:07 a.m., Manhard came outside. According to Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings' review, the SWAT sniper observed Manhard carrying a handgun and believed Manhard was presenting an immediate threat to the remaining hostages. The Salt Lake City sniper fired the fatal shot. Manhard was transported to a hospital, where he died.
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The sniper and his spotter were equipped with body cameras, but neither camera recorded the events immediately preceding the shooting or the shooting itself. Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown acknowledged that a camera positioned to record from the sniper team's location was not recording even though officers apparently believed it was. The camera recorded the aftermath. Other officers' cameras recorded portions of the incident, but SLCPD initially withheld those recordings because they depicted the interior of the family's home and medical or mental-health treatment.
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The fatal shooting was investigated through the Davis County Officer-Involved Critical Incident Protocol rather than by Salt Lake City police alone. The protocol provides for a separate criminal investigation of an involved officer's actions and an administrative investigation by the officer's employing agency.
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Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings reviewed the investigation and announced on 12/08/2021 that the sniper would not be charged. Rawlings concluded that the officer reasonably believed deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to the hostages and ruled the shooting legally justified.
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The prosecutor's report also documented the approximately seven-hour ordeal inside the residence and concluded that Manhard had threatened and endangered the hostages before the sniper fired. The family later publicly thanked the officers involved in ending the standoff.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The officer who killed Joseph Manhard was a Salt Lake City Police Department SWAT sniper. Despite the completed outside investigation and December 2021 prosecutorial decision, the officer's name was not disclosed in the public records and reporting located during this update. SLCPD's official critical-incident fact sheet likewise identifies the shooter only as an SLCPD SWAT sniper/operator.
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The sniper and his spotter failed to record the shooting with their body cameras. SLCPD acknowledged that neither camera captured the moments immediately preceding the use of deadly force or the shooting itself. The department had adopted disciplinary provisions for officers who failed to activate body cameras.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://ksltv.com/472313/carjacking-suspect-taken-into-custody-after-swat-hostage-situation-in-farmington/
https://www.ksl.com/article/50246214/man-shot-killed-by-police-after-hostage-situation-in-farmington
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/9/10/22666153/farmington-police-shooting-hostage-standoff
https://www.davisjournal.com/2021/09/10/368131/police-shoot-suspect-after-hostage-situation-in-farmington
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/massive-police-presence-on-i-15-in-farmington-as-police-search-for-suspect
https://www.standard.net/police-fire/2021/sep/10/man-shot-in-farmington-swat-standoff-after-carjacking-chase/
https://www.ksl.com/article/50238810/gunman-killed-by-police-after-holding-farmington-family-hostage-for-7-hours
https://www.ksl.com/article/50253580/gunman-who-held-family-hostage-did-drugs-during-hourslong-standoff-report-says
https://www.ksl.com/article/50248637/utah-family-held-hostage-offers-thanks-cameras-failed-to-capture-shooting-of-gunman
https://www.slcpd.com/ass3ts/uploads/2021/09/Media-Fact-Sheet.pdf
https://www.ksl.com/article/50307955/officer-who-shot-man-holding-utah-family-hostage-justified-in-using-deadly-force-prosecutor-rules
https://www.ksl.com/article/50311807/report-details-harrowing-7-hour-hostage-ordeal-in-farmington
https://www.standard.net/police-fire/2021/dec/09/officer-cleared-in-farmington-fatal-police-shooting-that-ended-hostage-standoff/
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/utah-woman-held-as-hostage-in-own-home-shares-her-experience
https://www.premierfuneral.com/obituaries/joseph-manhard/obituary