LINDSAY WHITEHURST
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah police chased and shot a man armed with a samurai-style sword as part of a Japanese anime costume because they thought he would hurt someone with the weapon after he swung it at them, according to search warrants released Wednesday .
Darrien Hunt, 22, died of multiple gunshot wounds to the back of his body after he was confronted by police Sept. 10 while walking around a strip mall in Saratoga Springs, Utah, which is about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City. A search warrant says police shot at Hunt, an African American, while he was running away because he was still holding the sword and they thought he could hurt or kill someone. The documents also details possible drug use and suicidal thoughts.
A lawyer for the Hunt family, who has said Hunt was treated differently because of his race, said Wednesday none of those factors justify the use of deadly force.
“This isn’t the Old West. There are a lot of kids his age who have problems with depression and suicide,” attorney Robert Sykes said. “You don’t just go shoot those people.”
Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman said Wednesday an investigation into whether the shooting was legally justified could be complete by early next week.
The search warrant says Hunt had been fired from his job after he didn’t come to work, and his mother had told him he needed to get a job or leave the house by the end of the week. His brother told investigators Hunt had been making and using a hallucinogenic drug and was “obsessed” with a girl on Facebook who wasn’t interested in him, according to the warrant filed in state court.
The morning of his death, a friend said he posted a message on Facebook saying, “I have a sword and I’m going to get shot,” investigators wrote.
Saratoga Springs police Cpl. Matthew Schauerhamer and Officer Nicholas Judson, who are both white, confronted Hunt after someone saw him with the sword and called 911. They asked him to put the sword on the hood of a patrol car, but Hunt refused, saying the sword was his. Officers said they could give him a ride to Orem, but he’d have to give up the weapon.
The warrant says Hunt pulled out the sword and moved toward Schauerhamer, swinging it. Schauerhamer drew his gun and started firing. Judson also fired a shot after Hunt appeared in front of him and Hunt ran away, still holding the sword.
Schauerhamer told investigators “he knew he had to stop Mr. Hunt before he was able to hurt or kill someone,” the warrant states. He fired four more shots and Hunt fell, dead.
The report quotes two witnesses who saw Hunt swing the sword, which his brother later told investigators was dull but could hurt someone if it was swung.
An autopsy released Tuesday shows Hunt didn’t have drugs in his system when he died of multiple gunshot wounds, including several to the back of his body. Police said race wasn’t a factor in the shooting.
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