An incredibly disturbing story.
A 4-year-old fires gun at police officers in Utah allegedly under the orders of that child’s father.
That father, Sadaat Johnson, 27, of Salt Lake City, is now in custody facing felony child abuse and threatening the use of a dangerous weapon.
"According to police, around 1:30 p.m., the father got upset when the order he had placed in the drive-thru line was wrong. In response to the incorrect order, the man brandished a gun.
Police arrived on the scene shortly after employees reported the incident and after they asked the man to pull to the front of the restaurant.
Officers say the man was non-compliant after they issued several commands asking the man to get out of his car.
Officers then opened the car door and pulled the man from the car. As they were getting the man in custody, an officer turned back toward the car and saw a gun pointing out of the back window.
The officer swiped the gun to the side as it was fired and realized the person who fired the gun was a child.
Police say the child that fired the gun was 4-years-old.
Witnesses at the scene say they overheard the father tell the child to shoot."
Unified Police Department Sheriff Rosie Rivera says (emphasis added):
“This is a child who thought it was okay to pull a firearm and shoot that firearm at police. I've never seen anything like this in my 28 years...This campaign against police officers, this needs to stop. We're here to protect and serve, and this is getting out of hand.”
The Unified Police Department said in a released statement:
“This is a sad day for law enforcement and our community. To have an adult think it is okay to encourage a four-year-old to pull a firearm and shoot at police illustrates how out of hand the campaign against police has gotten. This needs to stop and we need to come together as a community to find solutions to the challenges we face in our neighborhoods. Officers are here to protect and serve and we are beyond belief that something like [that] could happen.”