SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A black man killed by Utah police died of multiple gunshot wounds, including several in the back of his body, according to an autopsy released Tuesday.
The official state autopsy documents six gunshot wounds on the body of 22-year-old Darrien Hunt and finds at least four of the shots entered his body from behind, generally confirming the results of an independent autopsy released by his family. It found no drugs in his system.
A narrative in the autopsy states an officer fired three shots when Hunt charged at him, swinging the sword, as the officer got out of his car. Hunt ran away and police fired four more times as they chased him, the report says.
An attorney for Hunt’s family, Robert Sykes, disputed that account, saying a picture taken by a bystander shows Hunt smiling as he talked to two officers.
An investigation into whether the shooting was legally justified could be complete within a week, said Tim Taylor, chief deputy at the Utah County Attorney’s Office. He said the trajectory of the shots found by the autopsy indicates Hunt was turning away when they were fired, but investigators are still looking at exactly what happened during the encounter.
The autopsy shows four of the gunshots found in Hunt’s body traveled back to front. A fifth shot that struck his left arm appears to have come from the front and a sixth traveled downward after entering the back of his forearm.
“I think that means they were pursing him, he was running away. He was probably sacred to death,” said Sykes.
Hunt was shot Sept. 10 as he walked around a strip mall in Saratoga Springs dressed as a Japanese anime character and carrying a sword that his family said was decorative. Police said someone called 911 after seeing Hunt with the metal sword, and officers fired after Hunt lunged at them with it.
Hunt’s family has said Saratoga Springs police used excessive force and treated him differently because he was black. Police say race wasn’t a factor.
The officers involved were identified as Cpl. Matthew Schauerhamer and Officer Nicholas Judson.
Saratoga Springs is an upscale city of 23,000 people south of Salt Lake City. About 93 percent of residents are white and less than 1 percent is black, according to U.S. Census figures.