SHOOTINGS BY POLICE AT RECORD LEVELS

Wade Wagstaff was purportedly strung out on methamphetamine and had not
slept for nearly a week when he trashed his friend's home and tried to
attack him with scissors and a hammer.

When police confronted Wagstaff, he allegedly lunged at them with a pair of
large scissors. Fearing for their lives, police say, the two Salt Lake
officers fired their weapons, killing the 35-year-old man.

Last month, Brian Bowman, 24, was shot four times by a Murray City police
officer after he tried to run over the officer in a stolen vehicle,
prosecutors say. Bowman was high on meth during the incident, police said2E

This year in Utah, suspects have been wounded and killed by police gunfire
at a record-setting pace. Nine suspects have died, more than twice as many
as in all of 1998. And, this year's 16 officer-involved shootings are more
than the combined total of the past two years. In 1997 and 1998, officers
shot 14 Utahns, killing eight.

Analysts are at a loss to explain the surge in officer-involved shootings,
but many believe that suspects "speeding" on methamphetamine is partly to
blame. Perpetrators become paranoid, extremely aggressive and are prone to
violence when they are on the highly addictive -- and cheap -- drug, experts
say.

"Methamphetamine is very much like PCP [a horse tranquilizer used to get
high] in the sense that folks are likely to act out," said David Tomb,
University of Utah professor of psychiatry. "They do things they would not
normally do."

In several officer-involved shootings, police believe suspects had been
using meth when they brandished a weapon or lunged at officers with a knife
or, in the case of Wagstaff, a pair of scissors.

In 1998, Utah ranked third in the nation in the production of meth. On a per
capita basis, however, Utah ranked No. 1 in the number of meth labs
discovered by police. Officers say they are encountering more and more
volatile suspects using the drug.

Meth also renders suspects oblivious to pain, Tomb said. That was the case
with Bowman, who was cornered and tried to run over Officer Mike Fernandez,
police say. Despite being shot four times in the arm, he continued to drive
the stolen vehicle.

He was captured about a block away, but only after driving the car the wrong
way on State Street and slamming into a retaining wall.

This year's shootings have not been confined to suspects. Three police
officers have been wounded in the line of duty. All survived.

In one confrontation in June, Murray police Officer Ross Huff was shot three
times while trying to arrest forgery suspect Quentin Hurlick, who police
said was also using meth.

Hurlick purportedly walked into a Murray Zions Bank and tried to cash a bad
check. Suspicious employees would not cash the $1,400 check and called
police. Huff was ambushed by Hurlick, who was out of prison on parole,
police say. The 29-year-old officer survived.

South Salt Lake Assistant Police Chief Beau Babka, whose department has been
involved in two officer-related shootings in the past two weeks, said drugs

and/or mental illness lead to violent confrontations.

"We are seeing a more violent tone on the street -- more violent offenders
with a hint of mental illness," said Babka, whose department had no officer
shootings in the past dozen years until this summer. "The combination of
drugs and mental illness become violent ingredients."

Babka pointed to the officer-involved shooting of 70-year-old Sergei
Babarin, who was killed by police on April 15 after he randomly sprayed
bullets in the Mormon Church's Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Babarin, who family members said had a history of mental illness, killed a
Mormon Church security guard, a woman patron and wounded three others before
officers killed him.

Assistant Salt Lake City Police Chief Roy Wasden, whose officers have
wounded three suspects and killed three others this year, said the news
media should emphasize the more numerous incidents in which officers choose
not to use deadly force.

"Salt Lake City will log in over 200,000 incidents this year where officers
deal with people face-to-face," Wasden said. "All have the potential of
conflict."

In January, two Salt Lake City police officers chased an armed 17-year-old
youth who had pointed his weapon at a bystander's head and demanded his wallet.

Officers Scott Teerlink and Lyman Smith ordered the suspect to drop his gun.
The boy alternately pointed his weapon at the victim and the officers.

Finally, the boy tossed away his gun and fled. One officer tackled the
juvenile near the Green Street Social Club at 602 E. 500 South.

Each officer-involved shooting is examined by police internal investigators
and prosecutors.

In March, investigators determined that Salt Lake police Officer Robert L.
Joseph may have acted criminally when he shot a fleeing suspect in the left
cheek and foot. Prosecutors said 22-year-old Westley Scott should not have
been shot when he sped away from an officer because he did not "pose a
threat or serious risk."

Joseph, who served two years on the force, was fired two weeks ago at the
completion of an unfavorable police investigation. He faces trial in
December on a charge of second-degree felony aggravated assault.

The wounding of a prisoner by a Weber County deputy in February was also
ruled unjustified. In that case, Deputy Michael Howard shot the prisoner in
the abdomen after he ran away on Interstate 15 near Woods Cross.

Davis County Attorney Mel Wilson said the shooting was ruled unjustified
because it did not meet state rules governing deadly force. However, Howard,
who has since been fired, will not be prosecuted because of a lack of
evidence, the attorney said.

Carol Gnade, executive director of the Utah chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union, said the unfavorable rulings are an indication of proper
oversight.

"Anytime there is a death by the hands of police, we are concerned that
there is a thorough investigation," Gnade said. "The fact that a couple of
officers' use of deadly force has been ruled unjustified is a good sign."

In other fatal shootings this year:

- -- Scott S. Bush, 21, was shot by a Sandy police officer who opened fire
while being dragged by the suspect's vehicle, said Sandy police Sgt. Kevin
Thacker. The shooting was ruled justified.

- -- Joshua West, 23, was shot by Ogden police Officer Bob Clements after West
lunged at officers with a hunting knife on Jan. 17, said Ogden Police Chief
Jon Greiner. The Weber County Attorney's Office ruled the shooting
justified. An autopsy showed West had been drinking.

- -- Joaquin Martinez, 51, Kearns, was shot numerous times by Salt Lake County
Deputy Heath Lowry and Sgt. Michael Judd on March 2 after he brandished a
weapon. Prosecutors ruled the shooting justified.

- -- Demetrius Cosby, 30, was shot April 7 by two Salt Lake City police
officers after he robbed two banks. Cosby was chased by several officers
before Officers Randall Hendry and Greg Smith opened fire, hitting him in
the back several times. Police said he was about to carjack a car on 400
South Street. It was later determined that Cosby's weapon was an air rifle.
The shooting was ruled justified.

- -- Stan Lee Foster, 35, was shot dead by an FBI agent on July 15. Foster, a
fugitive wanted on two bank robberies, would not raise his hands despite
repeated commands. FBI officials said Foster, who was unarmed, made gestures
as if he had a weapon. Two agents drew their weapons at the six-time
parolee, but only one pulled the trigger.

- -- Brett Hyrum Coon, 39, was shot three times by three South Salt Lake
police officers when he lunged at them with a knife at his home on July 23.
Coon's brother had called police. Officers said the victim had been drinking
heavily.

- -- On Thursday, Norris Harley Udy, 47, was fatally shot during a gunfight
with three South Salt Lake officers. Udy purportedly had shot up his
neighbor's apartment after a fistfight. When officers confronted Udy, police
say, he began firing at them with a shotgun.