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Witnesses say Utah man killed by police was running away, attorney says
Witnesses say Utah man killed by police was running away, attorney says
No white boy with a little sword would they shoot while he's running away.
MORE: Witnesses say Utah man killed by police was running away attorney says - LA TimesA 22-year-old black man with a sword may have been running away when Utah police fatally shot him "numerous" times from behind last week, an attorney for the man's family said over the weekend.
The attorney cited independent autopsy results on Darrien Hunt's body that appear to contradict investigators' account of what happened outside a Panda Express in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday morning.
Officials said Hunt had "lunged" at officers with the sword before they shot him. But the attorney for Hunt's family, Randall K. Edwards, said the autopsy results found that "none of these shots were from Darrien’s front."
Hunt's death is likely to draw extra public scrutiny in the wake of the fatal Aug. 9 police shooting of another young black man, 18-year-old Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Mo., which prompted protests there and around the country.
Saratoga Springs is about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City. With 22,749 residents, the town is almost the same size as Ferguson, but is 93% white, according to census statistics. Ferguson is about two-thirds African American.
Wednesday's incident began when officers were called to the restaurant after Hunt was seen walking around with a "samurai-type sword," according to a previous statement from the Utah County Attorney's Office. Hunt's family has described it as a harmless 3-foot souvenir sword with a rounded edge.
"When the officers made contact with Mr. Hunt, preliminary evidence suggests that Mr. Hunt brandished the sword and lunged toward the officers with the sword, at which time Mr. Hunt was shot," Utah County Chief Deputy Attorney Tim Taylor said in a statement.
But according to Edwards, an independent autopsy conducted Saturday at the behest of Hunt's family showed Hunt had been shot "numerous times," none from the front.