Deputy loses eye after shootout outside Salt Lake jail - East Idaho News
Utah

Deputy loses eye after shootout outside Salt Lake jail

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — One of two sheriff’s deputies wounded in a shootout outside the Salt Lake City area’s jail lost his eye but the other has been released from the hospital, officials said Sunday. The suspect died.

Deputy Leland Grossett underwent surgery Saturday after being shot in the eye and was in stable condition in the hospital on Sunday, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.

The other deputy, Joshua Buerke, was shot in the cheek and was released from the hospital Saturday, the office said.

A man, identified as Joshua Michael Johnson, 31, was carrying a weapon and opened fire on the two deputies as they approached him outside the jail around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to Sheriff Rosie Rivera. Johnson was killed but Rivera said Saturday she did not know if one or both deputies returned fire, or how many shots were fired.

Grossett and Buerke are partners and worked as part of security for the property, she said. At the time, she said the suspect was not known to the department and appeared to be a transient.

“I want to thank the public for their outpouring of support and well wishes for our deputies,” Rivera said in a news release on Sunday.

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