Officer who shot woman at Parowan truck stop not justified in using deadly force, county attorney says
CEDAR CITY — The policeman who shot a woman in the knee during a confrontation at a Parowan truck stop in June was not justified in using deadly force, according to the Iron County Attorney’s Office. However, the officer who fired the shots, Enoch City Police Cpl. Jeremy Dunn, won’t face criminal charges.
“While the suspect was armed with a screwdriver and being non-compliant by failing to follow officer’s commands, including multiple commands to drop the screwdriver, it cannot objectively be stated that the officers or anyone else were in danger of death or serious bodily injury at the exact moment that lethal force was used,” Iron County Attorney Scott Garrett wrote in a letter relating his office’s findings to Enoch City Police Chief Jackson Ames.
The six-page document, dated Aug. 6, was released by Iron County Sheriff’s Department Monday evening, along with video footage of the incident obtained from the body camera that Dunn was wearing. The nearly eight-minute video may be viewed in the player above. Note: video contains graphic content; viewer discretion is advised.
The county attorney’s office said it used the video footage, along with interviews and evidence collected by the independent Critical Incident Task Force, to arrive at its findings.
“From the video and Sergeant Berg’s testimony, it appears that the situation was manageable at the time Corporal Dunn arrived and it would have seemed reasonable for officers to continue de-escalation tactics until the situation could be more fully contained. Corporal Dunn was only on scene for three minutes before firing shots,” the letter states.
The incident occurred shortly before noon on June 28 at the TA travel center located at 1130 North, 100 West, at the north end of Parowan. Officers had been called to the truck stop on a report that a man and a woman were burglarizing multiple vehicles in the parking lot.
Read more: UPDATED: Woman shot by officer at Parowan truck stop was wielding screwdriver, police say
Video footage shows Dunn driving up to the scene, where Parowan City Police Sgt. Mike Berg is already holding two suspects at gunpoint in a parking lot at the northwest portion of the property. Approximately three minutes later, after deploying his Taser twice on the female suspect to no effect, Dunn fires his service pistol three times, hitting the woman in the leg, the video shows. The report indicates that two bullets struck the woman in the right knee, while a third shot missed.
The woman, identified as Ivonne Casimiro, 29, of Las Vegas, was later transported to the hospital for treatment for her injuries, after which she was booked into the Iron County Jail, where she remains in custody awaiting formal charges.
According to court documents, Casimiro faces charges of assault on a peace officer, interfering with an arrest, vehicle burglary and possessing or receiving a stolen vehicle. A preliminary hearing for Casimiro, originally scheduled for July 11, was rescheduled for Wednesday.
Two men believed to have also participated in the vehicle burglaries, including one who was standing near Casimiro when she was shot, also face charges related to burglary and stolen vehicle possession in connection with the incident. They have been identified as Jose Martin Flores, 34, and Michael Salvador Torres, 24, both of Las Vegas.
The video shows an apparently agitated and defiant Casimiro repeatedly yelling at the two responding officers. She does not drop the screwdriver she is holding, despite repeated commands to do so.
Nevertheless, the county attorney’s letter states that Casimiro “does not advance on the officers, nor does she make any movement toward anybody else. Furthermore, while being non-compliant, she does not ever make a verbal threat of harm to the officers or another.”
Citing an inability to prove criminal intent, the county attorney’s office said no criminal charges would be pursued against Dunn.
“Even though the shooting was not legally justified, the State would not be able to prove the requisite criminal intent for a criminal charge,” the statement said.
“The conclusion might very well be different if Casimiro had advanced toward or rushed at officers with the screwdriver or had she been armed with a gun,” the letter concluded. “But under the circumstances that existed in this case, it was not objectively reasonable for Corporal Dunn to use deadly force to prevent death or serious bodily injury to an officer or another person.”
Click here to read the entire letter from the Iron County Attorney’s Office.
Lt. Del Schlosser of Iron County Sheriff’s Office said while there has not yet been any word regarding Dunn’s status, Enoch City officials are expected to make an announcement Tuesday.
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