This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Tooele County Attorney's Office on Thursday ruled that police officers were justified in shooting a West Valley City man who had threatened to blow up a hazardous waste incineration facility in February.
Barry Michael Zumwalt, 36, allegedly pointed a firearm at officers and threatened to blow up Clean Harbors in Tooele County by running his truck into the propane tank. When he allegedly ignored commands by a Tooele County sheriff's deputy and a Utah Highway Patrol trooper to put his hands up, they shot him.
Employees of Clean Harbors called dispatch at 6:45 a.m. and said that Zumwalt — who had no known connection to the company or its employees — "initiated a physical confrontation" after they told him to leave, according to the report, and that he had a knife and "possibly a gun."
The trooper told investigators he saw Zumwalt "reaching for a rifle and he thought Mr. Zumwalt was escalating the situation," the report stated. The trooper and deputy said they told Zumwalt to put his hands up, and when he didn't, the trooper shot Zumwalt. After he was shot, Zumwalt crawled under his car, where he ultimately died, according to the report.
After Zumwalt crawled under the car, the trooper fired a few more rounds until Zumwalt stopped moving, according to the report.
Investigators didn't find any explosives, but the report stated that he had "two fluorescent tubes strapped to his chest and a black tie on his finger which resembled a trigger to a bomb. The two firearms were BB guns.
Zumwalt was a U.S. Navy veteran, according to the report, and had a history of mental-health struggles.
He had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2005 after a manic episode and subsequent diagnosis of "type II bipolar disorder with psychotic tendencies," and had slipped into depression leading up to the confrontation at the incinerator plant, his ex-wife told a Tribune reporter in March.
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