US Army Sergeant Nicholas McGehee was killed Sunday in his home in Utah, after police responded to a medical emergency call saying he had cut his foot on broken glass and was bleeding profusely.
Neighbors say they woke up, hearing several loud gunshots.
"They were 'boom, boom, boom, boom!'” said Candice Pratt, a neighbor.
"I hurried and called 911, and she asked where we were. I gave her our address, and I said, 'We just heard four shots.'”
Two officers, one from the Sheriff’s Office and one from the Utah Highway Patrol, came to the house at around 4 a.m. and saw a man holding a gun through a window. They evacuated the woman who was in the house and turned fire on the man when he stepped onto the porch, according to Sheriff Frank Park of Tooele County.
“The information we had is that a gentleman had cut himself rather severely,” said Park.
Investigators are still trying to determine exactly what happened, but McGehee may have initiated the shooting by provoking officers.
“The deputy told him two or three times to put the gun down, the gentleman pointed the gun at the deputy, and at that time, the deputy turned fire, shooting the individual,” Park said.
McGehee, who was 28, was declared dead at the scene.
"He may have been intoxicated, but that's still under investigation. We don't know for sure,” the Sheriff said.
Family members couldn’t believe the news, saying they don’t understand why Nicholas would have aimed a gun at police.
“I had never seen him pull a gun on anyone. I don’t know what the deal was,” said Nicholas’ father, Russell McGehee. “I don’t know why he would have done that. I still don’t know how to take it. I’m sad one minute, I’m mad one minute … I can hardly breathe one minute.”
Nicholas had plans to become a nurse, his father added.
“He loved life. He loved his wife. He had a lot of plans. It’s so difficult to look at a person who has all these plans [and see that end].”
Taylorsville City records indicate the victim was a sergeant in the US Army who served two tours of duty in Iraq. The Purple Heart recipient once appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
According to Sheriff Park, the deputy who shot McGehee has served in the department for at least 10 years. The officer was wearing a body camera, but did not turn it on believing he was responding to a medical call. Officers leave cameras off during medical calls due to health privacy laws.
Both officers are now on administrative leave, pending an ongoing investigation.
