People were killed in the streets. In vehicles. In homes. Unarmed, and as they held weapons, and as they held something — a cellphone, a toy gun — that officers thought were weapons.
Some lunged toward police. Some told officers they wanted to die. Some had their backs turned.
In 2018, not a month went by without an officer in Utah shooting at someone. In all, police killed 19 people and shot at 30. That level of lethal force, according to Salt Lake Tribune records, was the highest in recent years.
Now the Utah attorney general’s office has begun investigating why 2018 was so deadly.