Cedar City Police release additional details of officer-involved shooting; suspect booked into jail

Officers from multiple agencies respond to a shooting incident in a residential neighborhood near 4200 West, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 30, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Police have released additional information regarding Thursday’s officer-involved shooting incident in Cedar City and said that the suspect was released from the hospital, brought back to town and booked into Iron County Jail on Friday.

Police vehicles respond to a shooting incident in a residential neighborhood near 4200 West, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 30, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

According to a statement emailed out to media outlets by Cedar City Police Chief Darin Adams late Friday night, the suspect, identified as 40-year-old Cedar City resident Brian Peters, had intentionally fired a handgun at a family member inside a residence in the neighborhood of 375 North and 4200 West. The first reports of shots fired had been received by dispatchers at approximately 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

Police said that Peters himself had also called dispatch stating that SWAT would need to respond and that there would be “lots of gunfire.”

The incident triggered a sizable response involving officers from multiple agencies, with a staging area and command post being set up on 4200 West.

Meanwhile, as officers worked to shut down nearby state Route 56 in both directions, Peters allegedly fired at least one shot at a uniformed officer who was performing traffic control duties on that road.

“Phone contact was made with Peters whereupon he stated if officers entered through his front door he would shoot them,” the news release added.

Soon thereafter, Peters reportedly exited the front of the home and aimed his firearm at a uniformed officer as he approached.

“Commands were given by the officer to stop and drop the firearm,” the release stated. “Peters disregarded these orders and continued to approach the officer with the firearm. The officer then discharged his service weapon to stop the threat Peters presented.”

Officers from multiple agencies respond to a shooting incident in a residential neighborhood near 4200 West, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 30, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The officer who fired his weapon has not yet been identified, nor have authorities said how many shots were fired, by either the suspect or the officer.

The incident prompted evacuations and shelter-in-place orders in the surrounding neighborhoods and also caused a nearby elementary school to temporarily go into lockdown.

As previously reported, Cedar City News heard a couple short bursts of gunfire at approximately 12:27 p.m. from a location a couple blocks away.

The incident is still being actively investigated by the Iron-Garfield-Beaver County Critical Incident Task Force.

After being shot, the injured Peters was taken by ambulance to Cedar City Hospital, after which he was flown via Intermountain Life Flight helicopter to St. George Regional Medical Center for further treatment while remaining in custody of law enforcement.

The following day, Peters was released from the hospital and transported back up to Cedar City, where he was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony. Iron County Jail records indicate Peters was booked at 9:08 p.m. Friday.

This report is based on information provided by law enforcement and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!