Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Three American Fork SWAT officers were legally justified in shooting Kevin Ballew, who brandished a gun.
- Ballew, previously involved in multiple crimes, was shot after entering an unlocked apartment.
- Ballew survived the shooting and faces multiple charges, including aggravated burglary and trespassing.
SALT LAKE CITY — Three members of the American Fork SWAT team who tracked down a wanted man were legally justified when they shot and injured him after he pulled out a gun on the porch of a random residence, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office announced Friday.
On Feb. 2, 2024, American Fork police stopped Kevin Mitchell Ballew, 37, for driving an unregistered vehicle and impounded his car. Four days later, police say Ballew went to the impound lot in American Fork where his car was being held, broke into the office after hours, took his keys, drove up to the front gate where he fired 20 rounds at the lock and rammed his vehicle through the gate, according to charging documents,
The next night, on Feb. 7, the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force and American Fork police tracked down Ballew and the vehicle at an apartment complex in South Salt Lake near 800 West and 3900 South.
With the Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter flying overhead to assist, the American Fork SWAT team moved in.
While checking his car, three officers then spotted Ballew in the parking lot and ran after him, according to the final report prepared by Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. Ballew ran and found an unlocked apartment and went inside. Two people, including a boy, were in the apartment, according to police.
Meanwhile, officers who had run past the apartment were instructed by the helicopter crew to turn around. As Ballew exited the apartment, he was confronted by police.
"Officers immediately challenged Mr. Ballew at gunpoint, yelling at him to drop the gun. Mr. Ballew raised the gun he was holding in his right hand and Sgt. (Quinn) Adamson, detective (Ron) Bibeau and medic (Darren) Cooper fired their handguns," Gill's report states. A fourth officer also fired a less-lethal round.
A K-9 police officer at the scene that night later described to investigators, "I saw him bring (the) gun up to his head. I want to say he started to move it away form his head. And then shots rang out," according to the report.
In body camera video released Friday, Adamson is heard commanding his officers, "Stack up. ... Stack up on the shield," after Ballew is shot. A group of SWAT team members then got in a single-file line behind an officer who was holding a ballistics shield and approached Ballew. Once the officers separated Ballew from his gun, they began to administer first aid.
The American Fork SWAT team had two staff medics on scene that night. Gill said that "significantly contributed" to Ballew's survival.
The investigation determined that police fired a combined 14 rounds plus one less-lethal round. Police recovered a loaded handgun Ballew had been carrying, the report states. He was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for his injuries and survived. When questioned by investigators on Feb. 9, 2024, he said he was homeless and living out of his vehicle, the report states.
"Mr. Ballew explained that he saw police looking like 'SEAL Team Six' and 'all tactical,'" according to the report. Ballew allegedly said he went into the apartment at random to hide but then "realized that would be a bad move" and walked back out.
The apartment he entered was unlocked because the tenant expected his wife to arrive home at any minute, Gill said. Because Ballew entered the residence only briefly and then exited, he was charged in 3rd District Court with trespassing and failing to stop for police, class A misdemeanors.
Gill said some of the shots fired by police went through the front door of the apartment Ballew had entered. But by that time the tenant had run to a back room and no injuries were reported in the apartment.
Ballew is charged in 4th District Court with aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony; unauthorized control of a car for an extended period of time and property damage, third-degree felonies; reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor; plus theft of services and 20 counts of discharge of a firearm, class B misdemeanors for the events that happened in American Fork the day before the shooting.
A warrant was issued for his arrest on Aug. 5 when he failed to show up for court and remained outstanding as of Friday. Gill said Friday that Ballew is confined to a wheelchair and being treated at a facility in Salt Lake City.
