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WEST JORDAN — An officer stepped between an armed man and his children inside an upstairs room of a West Jordan home Wednesday and fatally shot the man following a short hostage situation, police said.
West Jordan Police Chief Doug Diamond called the officer's actions selfless, saying the man he killed was considered a danger to the children.
"The officer actually stepped … through the window and in between the children and the gunman, and (it was) a really heroic event (to) put himself in danger to protect those children," Diamond said.
The officer had stepped into the room to help an unknown number of children out of the window of their home at 9493 S. Allen Hollow Road following a nearly hourlong standoff with 27-year-old Kyle Lambrose.
A woman called police about 2:30 p.m. to report her husband was suicidal inside their home and that he intended to harm the couple's children, West Jordan Police Sgt. Dan Roberts said.
The woman was not home at the time, but arrived at the house shortly before officers did and was also in the room at the time of the shooting, according to police.
Officers arrived and were at the scene for about 45 minutes when they spotted multiple children up against a window, Roberts said.
"The officers saw the children … in a room, and they went up to try and get the children out so that we could de-escalate this as quickly as possible," Diamond said, noting that the officers used a ladder to get to the upstairs level from the outside. "As they were trying to get the children out, that's when (Lambrose) came into the room."
Only one officer was able to make it into the room before Lambrose joined the children inside the room, according to Diamond. Lambrose was reportedly elsewhere in the home when police decided to retrieve the children.
The officer actually stepped … through the window and in between the children and the gunman, and (it was) a really heroic event (to) put himself in danger to protect those children.
–West Jordan Police Chief Doug Diamond
The children were unharmed and no officers were injured in the incident.
Ambrose allegedly pointed his gun at the officer.
"We know that (Ambrose) had a gun and that he pointed it in the direction of the officers," Diamond said.
It wasn't clear Wednesday what precipitated the hostage situation.
West Valley police will investigate the shooting, Diamond said.
"We want to make sure that (the investigation) is open and transparent to the public," he said.
Diamond said the officer and his colleagues "did what they needed to do" in the situation.
"Anytime we take the life of somebody, it's a serious thing," he said, "and we take (it) very seriously. It's tragic. It's tragic for the family. It's tragic for the officers that have to do that."
Contributing: Jed Boal
