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TAYLORSVILLE — One man is dead following a police shooting in Salt Lake County Wednesday night.
Henry Chavez, Jr., 28, was shot and killed by a Taylorsville police officer investigating a stolen car case.
The incident began about 10:15 p.m. when officers spotted a vehicle near 4500 South and 900 West that had been reported as stolen and had fled from officers in Salt Lake City, said Taylorsville Police Lt. Aaron Cheshire.
Officers from Taylorsville, along with the Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter, followed the vehicle but did not become engaged in a chase, Cheshire said. When the vehicle pulled into a parking lot near 3900 South and 300 West, police attempted to make contact with its occupants.
During the encounter, a Taylorsville police officer fired an undisclosed number of shots, hitting and killing Chavez who was inside the car, Cheshire said. Information about what prompted the officer to shoot was not released Thursday.
Cheshire said a woman who was also in the car was not injured and was questioned by detectives.
Investigators from the Unified Police Department will conduct an independent investigation into the police shooting. The officer who fired the shots has been placed on standard paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
