Family questions police action in shooting of the son

The Associated Press
FARMINGTON — The father of a man killed during a police standoff said his son had been jolted by a Taser and was on the ground when he was fatally shot by an officer.
Jerry Wood said that his son Brian Wood was trying to stand up when an officer shot him with a .308-caliber rifle.
“Why was such a lethal force used?” Jerry Wood told The Salt Lake Tribune in its Friday edition. “And aren’t the police suppose to protect us? And aren’t they putting their officers in danger by forcing that kind of response from anyone.”
A preliminary death certificate says Wood died from a gunshot wound to the “head/neck.”
The 12-hour standoff began about 9 a.m. on Sept. 22 after Brian Wood fought with his wife and locked himself in a pickup truck with two handguns.
Jerry Wood also alleges that Farmington police lied to the Wood family throughout the ordeal. He said police tossed a cell phone at Brian Wood’s truck and told the part-time firefighter he could use it to speak to his dad. But officers prevented the conversation, Jerry Wood said.
“They lied to (Brian Wood) all day and they lied to us all day,” Jerry Wood’s surviving son, Andy Wood said.
Farmington police told The Associated Press on Friday they had no comment and referred questions to the Utah attorney general’s office, which is investigating.
Officers twice used a barrage of concussion grenades and tear gas to force Brian Wood’s surrender, but both were unsuccessful.
Afterward, police told family members they would use no more aggression and would simply wait, Jerry Wood said.
“They came over and said, ’His head is nodding; he’s falling asleep; his adrenaline has wore off,”’ Jerry Wood said.
But about 9:30 p.m., a SWAT team detonated a third round of non-lethal weapons. Within moments, Brian Wood was shot amid a cloud of tear gas and smoke.
Police first told the family Brian Wood had shot himself in the chest but later said he was shot by an officer, Jerry Wood said. The Farmington department has since said that Brian Wood fired his weapon at about the same time the officer fired.
Jerry and Andy Wood say they don’t know if that’s true.
Jerry Wood said Farmington police Chief Wayne Hansen offered his family no explanation for the use of the SWAT team.

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