When the officers caught up with him, they found Lovato was 'swinging and waving a knife around in his right hand, walking in circles, yelling at them and being very aggressive,' according to the report. The officers then went after Lovato to question him, but he ignored their commands to stop walking and went around the corner of a building. The other man told police that Lovato 'had been chasing him with a knife,' according to Gill's final report. UTA police officers Preston Fenwick and Ryan Morrill saw the confrontation and went to investigate.Īs the officers approached, Lovato walked away. 1, Lovato was involved in a fight with another man near 200 West and 900 South. But District Attorney Sim Gill said regardless, it would not have changed his decision about the police shooting. As of Friday, it was still unclear whether he died as a result of being shot.

Mark Leonard Lovato, 59, died months later in January.

SALT LAKE CITY - A Utah Transit Authority police officer who shot a man holding a box cutter in downtown Salt Lake City in September was legally justified in using deadly force, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office announced Friday.

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