1 officer killed, 5 wounded in drug raid at Utah home

January 6, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

What police officials said began as a routine anti-drug raid against a suspect with a relatively minor criminal record ended in gunfire that killed one officer and wounded five others in Ogden, Utah.

State and national flags were lowered Thursday to honor the dead and wounded officers as top officials from a regional narcotics task force continued their investigation into the Wednesday night raid that took the life of Ogden Officer Jared Francom, a seven-year veteran who is survived by his wife and two children.

Four officers were hospitalized in serious to critical condition, and a fifth was treated and released, police said.

The suspect, Matthew David Stewart, 37, had “a limited criminal history” believed to include mostly misdemeanors, Ogden Police Chief Wayne Tarwater said. Stewart was injured and remains hospitalized under guard. His injuries are not considered life-threatening, but Tarwater did not say whether he was shot.

“It’s a very, very sad day for Ogden,” Tarwater said. “The law-enforcement community is mourning.”

An internal investigation by police as well as prosecutors in Weber County is under way.