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LAYTON — A man who police say fired at officers while driving on I-15 during the busy morning commute Wednesday and was shot by officers has been released from the hospital and booked into jail.
Despite multiple shots being exchanged, the man's injuries were not considered to be life-threatening and no one else was hurt.
"It was an extremely dangerous situation," said Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman.
Micheal John Buttel, 28, was booked into the Davis County Jail on Thursday for investigation of "numerous charges related to the shooting, a stolen car and numerous other crimes," Layton police tweeted.
The tense situation began just before 6:30 a.m. when a Layton resident near 1400 North and 350 West woke up to find a car running in her driveway that she did not recognize with a driver she did not know, Lyman said.
A police officer responded to the area and found the vehicle, which was now parked in another driveway, according to Layton police.
"The officer approached the car and saw a man sleeping in the driver's seat. The officer also saw a handgun sticking out of the man's pocket," police said in a prepared statement.
Because of that, additional officers were called to the scene before attempting to wake the man up. Once the officers were in place and the man realized that there were multiple police officers outside his car, he threw his car into reverse and hit two patrol cars while trying to flee, police stated.
The man drove west on state Route 193 as an officer in an unmarked patrol car followed from a distance, Lyman said. Because of the busy morning traffic, police tried to avoid getting into a chase, he said. But the man soon realized he was being followed and attempted to get away.
Near University Park Boulevard, officers successfully deployed spikes that shredded at least one of the man's tires, Lyman said. But the man kept driving and got onto I-15 heading south.
As the man was fleeing, Layton police and the Utah Highway Patrol attempted to slow down traffic behind the pursuit to create distance between the driver and other vehicles. While officers were following the man, he began shooting at them as he continued to drive, Lyman said. A Layton officer was eventually able to get close enough to the fleeing vehicle to perform a PIT maneuver, temporarily disabling the vehicle.
But after doing that, Lyman said the man fired at police again and two Layton officers returned fire. The man then continued driving south on I-15, he said. A short distance later, police performed a second PIT maneuver and again stopped the fleeing car. This time, Lyman said the man surrendered without further incident. Police discovered that he had been shot in the hip.
The 28-year-old man was taken to a hospital in Ogden for treatment.
The shooting will be investigated both internally and by an officer-involved critical incident protocol team. Lyman said where all of the bullets ended up during the exchange of gunfire will be part of the investigation. But as of Wednesday morning, there were no reports that any other people or cars had been struck.
The freeway was closed for several hours in Davis County as police investigated the incident.
A police chase ended on I-15 SB in Layton -- closing the freeway. All traffic is being diverted off I-15 at Antelope Drive. Traffic is now backing up toward Roy.
— Heather Kelly (@KSLHeatherKelly) November 30, 2022
Take US-89 as your alternate. pic.twitter.com/SaAMvMb8iv
Contributing: Kaitlyn Bancroft
