Salt Lake City Sheriff Jim Winder is glad that the family of an innocent bystander, who was erroneously shot by one of his officers last week, is kind and cooperative.
Although out of danger now, the 30-year-old victim’s injuries were considered life-threatening at one point.
Officer Cory Tsouras was in hot pursuit of a suspected car thief when he mistakenly shot at Dustin Evans.
As luck would have it, the innocent bystander was running to protect himself from the shots fired by the fleeing suspect, Jeremy Bowden.
The authorities say the cop made the mistake because Evans had a strong resemblance to the dangerous criminal.
Seconds after Bowden opened fire on him, Tsouras shot in the direction of the harmless onlooker thinking it was the wanted man.
All started around 8:30 PM when a police officer saw a parked car that had been reported stolen earlier.
He decided to wait until the driver came along. Shortly after, Bowden walked out of an Internet cafe and approached the vehicle.
The cop, who had been keeping a vigil, decided to talk to him. According to Winder, the suspect decided to flrr on foot just as soon as the officer tried to speak with him.
By this point he had already called for backup.
Tsouras responded to the call and was just driving up to the scene in his patrol car. When he saw Bowden running he pulled into a nearby car wash to try and cut him off.
The sheriff’s account states that as soon as entered the officer Rocket Express Car Wash, the man started shooting and the cop had to keep driving as multiple rounds were fired.
Finally, when the officer turned around to look for the gunman, he spotted Evans.
The victim had initially taken cover to protect himself from Bowden’s shots and was going towards the car wash to remain safe from the dangerous situation.
Thinking it was the car thief, Tsouras opened fire.
Evans was shot in the arm and leg.
Initially, the authorities had identified the victim as a 25-year-old man.
Evans’ family has issued a statement, which thanks people for their concerns and requests privacy. No mention has been made of the police department.
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