Good4utah

The family of Darrien Hunt says Saratoga Springs officers used excessive force when they fatally shot the 22-year-old outside a  Panda Express last month. Now they say they have the independent autopsy to prove it.

 

During a press conference Friday Susan Hunt, Darrien's mother, said she has heard nothing from police or investigators in the weeks since her son was killed. "If in any way they think they can justify this, why haven't they?" asked Hunt.

 

The Hunt family believes the 22-year-old was actually running away from police when he was shot.

 

Robert Sykes, the Hunt Family Attorney said, "What we believe happened, based on the limited evidence that we have right now, is that Darrien for whatever reason was running from these officers and was deliberately shot in the back multiple times."

 

The family hired Dr. J. Wallace Graham, a former Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Utah, to perform an independent autopsy.

 

Sykes said, "We believe if we're reading this correctly this autopsy tells us that 5 out of 6 bullets penetrated from the rear and the fatal shot right smack dab in the middle of the back."

 

ABC 4 Utah contacted Dr. Graham for an explanation of his report. He says the report is just preliminary and that he can't account for the sequence of the shots until he has all of the evidence. Graham says he needs to see the final medical examiner's report, the bullets that were fired, Hunt's clothing and other evidence before he can come to a conclusion. He says from his examination of the body he can only be certain that three of the six bullets that hit Hunt were fired from behind.

 

"One is in the right arm and left leg and those can be in different positions," explained Dr. Graham. "An arm can be extended it can be raised as if you're wielding a weapon."

 

Hunt's family says there's no way he would have lunged at police. They say the sword was a cheap imitation that couldn't have hurt anybody.

 

Susan Hunt said, "My son knows its a butter knife. He's not going to pull it out and hurt somebody with something he knows he can't hurt them with. He wasn't aggressive with the sword."

 

Cindy Moss, Darrien's Aunt, believes Darrien may have gone to the Panda Express that day to look for a job. "I said it upfront and I still believe this he thought he was going to impress Panda Express by showing them his great skills," said Moss. "He's still a nerdy kid that thinks it's cool."

 

Sykes says Darrien didn't pose an immediate threat and therefore should not have been shot down. "The officers of this state, must obey the law," said Sykes. "This is about obeying the law, obeying the rules, one of the rules is you don't use deadly force in a  situation like this. Why were they using deadly force?"

 

Skyes said he has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the shooting, and Hunt's mother told reporters she plans to file a wrongful death suit against the Saratoga Springs Police Department.