DA: Utah officer justified in standoff shooting
The Associated PressProsecutors say a police officer was justified in firing his gun during a standoff with a Utah man who worked as an undercover informant during an investigation into American Indian artifact looting.
The state medical examiner says 52-year-old Ted Gardiner died from a self-inflicted gunshot March 1.
Unified Police Department officers went to Gardiner's Holladay home after a report he was suicidal.
Investigators say Gardiner raised a gun as one officer entered a room. The officer fired a single shot that didn't hit Gardiner.
Officers then reported hearing another shot. Gardiner was found dead a short time later.
Gardiner spent more than two years working undercover with federal agents on an artifacts sting that resulted in charges against 26 people.