OGDEN, Utah—
A member of the Weber Morgan Narcotic Strike Force has died after a shootout in Ogden.The Ogden Police Department said Thursday morning that Weber Morgan Narcotics Task Force Agent Jared Francom, who had served for 7 years, had succumbed to his injuries sustained during the incident. He is survived by a wife and two young children.
The shooting happened around 8:41 p.m. Wednesday on the 3200 block of Jackson Ave. Officers from the Weber Morgan Narcotic Strike Force were serving a drug-related search warrant when a suspect, identified as 37-year-old Matthew David Stewart, began shooting at them.
Ogden Police Chief Wayne Tarwater said that officers were serving a "knock and announce" search warrant; they had knocked on the door, announced the warrant and received no answer. At that point, they entered the home and Stewart began firing. Officials say there was nothing unusual about the warrant and that at least 12 officers are used to serve warrants for officer safety. All officers were wearing bulletproof vests.
The Weber Morgan Narcotics Strike Force is based in Ogden and is comprised of officers from the Weber County Sheriff's Office, police departments in Ogden, Roy and Riverdale and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. The agency's mission is, "investigating and prosecuting the illegal importation, manufacture, use, and sale of controlled substances under local, state and federal laws."
Six officers and Stewart were hospitalized during the incident. In a Thursday morning press conference, the officers hospitalized were identified as Weber Morgan Narcotic Strike Force Agent Jared Francom, Weber County Sheriff's Sgt. Nate Hutchinson, Ogden Police officers Shawn Grogan, Casey Burrell, Michael Rounkles and Roy Police officer Jason Vanderwarf.
A SWAT team was dispatched to the neighborhood, Stewart was captured and the neighborhood was secured.
The officers and Stewart were sent to either the Ogden Regional Medical Center or McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden. Officials with McKay-Dee Hospital say the reception of the officers went well.
"Whenever there is a group of individuals who need quickly, we are a trauma center that has a protocol set up where a lot of folks come in at the same time. We were able to handle the officers that came in," said Chris Dallin with McKay-Dee Hospital.
Francom is the 8th Ogden officer to die in the line of duty and 134th officer killed in the line of duty in Utah. The last Ogden officer to die in the line of duty was Det. Marshall White in 1963.
"We have lost a brother, we will grieve this loss knowing that Officer Francom laid down his life for his friends and community. He will be sorely missed," said Weber County Sheriff Terry Thompson.
"Agent Francom was one of the more experience agents in our unit and he will be sorely missed. He was involved in training younger agents, showing them how to do things appropriately," said Lt. Darin Parke, Commander for the Weber Morgan Narcotics Strike Force.
Four of the remaining five officers remain hospitalized at McKay-Dee Hospital. Burrell and Rounkles are in critical condition. Grogan was previously in critical condition but has been upgraded to fair condition and may be out of the ICU before the weekend. Hutchinson is in fair condition. Vanderwarf was treated and released on Thursday.
Stewart is hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries and remains under guard; there is no continued threat to the public.
Investigators remained on the scene throughout the night collecting evidence. Chief Tarwater said that the Ogden PD will conduct an internal shooting review board and a multi-jurisdiction task force will investigate with the Weber County Attorney's Office. Further details about the incident could not be released to maintain the integrity of the investigation.
Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said that Stewart will likely face aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder charges.
"Right now we have an investigation going, we have an officer who is deceased and until we have the investigation complete I'm not going to say exactly what he's facing. But it appears that with the information we have right now, we have aggravated murder as well as aggravated attempted murders," said Smith.
On Thursday afternoon, police and DEA agents were seen at the residence where the shooting took place. A makeshift memorial of flowers was placed outside the crime scene tape and a candlelight vigil is scheduled for Thursday evening at 6:30 at the Ogden Amphitheater.
Prior to Wednesday night's incident, Stewart had no major criminal history. His father says the man is mentally ill and was self-medicating, but was never violent.
