OGDEN — Matthew David Stewart, who was wounded in a Jan. 4 shootout that killed an Ogden police officer and wounded five other officers, was released Monday from the hospital and booked into Weber County Jail.
Stewart, 37, is being held without bond on one count of aggravated murder, seven counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of production of a controlled substance in a drug-free zone.
Weber County Attorney Dee Smith has said he intends to seek the death penalty for Stewart. He declined Monday to comment on Stewart’s booking into jail.
As of Monday afternoon, a date for Stewart’s first court appearance had not been set.
However, that appearance could take place Wednesday morning via a video linkup with Weber County Jail, said a clerk with 2nd District Court in Ogden.
Stewart’s father, Michael Stewart, of Ogden, said he was alerted by the media Monday afternoon that his son had been transported from the hospital to Weber County Jail.
“He was healthy enough to be booked into jail,” he said Monday night of his son’s medical condition.
“We will see what happens. He is in the hands of the community, the authorities and God. Let’s hope that whatever happened was worth something.
“I hope we can learn something from this terrible experience. It shouldn’t have happened the way it happened.”
Weber County Sheriff’s Lt. Mark Lowther declined to provide specific details on whether Stewart is segregated from other inmates at the jail or is on suicide watch.
“He is being housed in a unit suitable for his current medical condition,” Lowther said in a text Monday to the Standard-Examiner.
Stewart was reportedly wounded in the foot, stomach, arm and buttocks in the Jan. 4 shootout that killed Ogden Officer Jared Francom, a source close to the investigation has said.
The source asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the ongoing criminal investigation.
Stewart was wounded when a dozen agents of the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force attempted to execute a search warrant at his home at 3268 Jackson Ave.
Francom died at a hospital hours after the shooting.
Other officers wounded in the shootout were strike force agents Shawn Grogan and Kasey Burrell, both of the Ogden Police Department; Sgt. Nate Hutchinson, of the Weber County Sheriff’s Office; and Jason Vanderwarf, of the Roy Police Department.
Ogden Officer Michael Rounkles also was wounded when he arrived and tried to help the injured strike force agents.
All of the wounded officers have been released from the hospital.
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