ROY -- The house where a 45-year-old Roy man was shot and killed by police late Thursday night had been the focus of a weeks-long drug investigation, police said Friday.
The man, identified by the Weber County Attorney's Office as Todd E. Blair, was shot when he raised a golf club at officers who had entered the home with a search warrant, Roy Police Chief Greg Whinham said.
The shooting occurred just before 10 p.m. when officers with the Weber-Morgan Strike Force were granted a search warrant for the home near 5900 South and 2600 West for possible drug activity. Whinham said the strike force had been investigating the home for possible drug activity for several weeks.
When the officers entered the home, they were confronted by Blair, the subject of the investigation.
"He had a golf club and came at the (first) officer," Whinham said. "The officer used his weapon and stopped the attacker."
Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said in a news release on Friday that the officer shot Blair three times. He would not identify the officer or for which agency he works. The strike force has officers from several Weber County cities working cooperatively.
Smith said Blair had been investigated for possessing heroin and methamphetamine.
An ambulance was called to the home but Blair was pronounced dead at the scene.
The main investigation has been turned over to the county attorney's office, Whinham said, because the strike force is a multi-jurisdiction force.
He said several investigations have been opened in this case by the county attorney's office, Roy Police, the agency where the shooting officer is from, and the medical office. The officer who shot Blair was not identified, but Smith said he is on paid administrative leave for the course of the investigation.
Neighbors Charlotte Beeman and Chantel Morse live five houses away from Blair on the quiet, residential street. They said police were frequent visitors to Blair's home, as were many people who appeared to be there for drugs.
"That house had a lot of traffic," Beeman said. "There has been a lot of police going by there in the last few weeks." Whinham said while the strike force patrolled the area to build information for its drug case, Roy police also often responded to the home. "There has been a lot of activity with police response," he said. "We've responded on all kinds of squabbles with different relationships."
Whinham said no officers were injured during the incident, and no one else was in the home at the time. He said he was unsure if anyone else lived at the home.
"We know there are people who have lived in and out before," he said. "But he's been the main habitant for awhile."
Smith said further details will be released once the investigation is complete.
Court records show Blair had a history of drug use and other run-ins with police. He was charged in 2000 and 2003 with possession and use of a controlled substance in Farmington Second District Court, and was charged with forgery in 1994 in Ogden Second District Court.
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