Cop Shoots Unarmed Man Complying With Order to Remove Hands From Waistband: Prosecutors Say That's Fine — Cop Cleared

Bullets fly because three guys were 'making a scene' on the way to the store.

Dillon Taylor.

By Travis Gettys
Prosecutors cleared the Salt Lake City police officer who shot an unarmed man last month outside a convenience store, saying his actions were justified because he felt threatened.

But the family of 20-year-old Dillon Taylor said went into the confrontation with a “biased viewpoint” and expecting to shoot.

“Why do officers have this mind-set?” Kelly Fowler, an attorney for the family, told The Salt Lake Tribune. “When you’re a hammer, all you’re going to see is nails.”

Officers were called the evening of Aug. 11 to a 7-Eleven, where witnesses reported seeing a man waving a gun around.

Taylor, his cousin and brother closely matched the descriptions provided by a 911 caller, investigators said, and police said the three men were “making a scene” on their way to the store.

Polices ordered them to raise their hands, but investigators said Taylor continued walking away from them with his hands in his waistband.

Body-camera video shows Officer Bron Cruz following Taylor with his gun drawn, repeatedly screaming at him to “get (his) hands out” of his pants.

Taylor turns around, hands still tucked in his waistband, says “nah, fool,” and walks backward for a few feet, the video shows.

Cruz again orders him to get his hands out, and Taylor complies and pulls up his T-shirt – which police are trained to perceive as part of a possible weapon draw.

That’s when Cruz quickly shoots him twice, in the chest and abdomen.

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