Salt Lake security guard charged with murder of trespasser
SALT LAKE CITY UT June 21 2018 —Police have arrested a security guard and booked him into the jail on one count of murder after he reportedly shot and killed a man in Salt Lake City early Wednesday morning.
Court documents say Timothy Lutes, 26, shot Thomas Stanfield, 54, after an altercation outside two state government buildings near 150 East 300 South around 5:30 a.m.
“The altercation lasted for quite some time,” Salt Lake City Police Department spokesman Sgt. Brandon Shearer. “It involved punches and fists.”
According to detectives, there is surveillance video that shows Lutes shoot Stanfield as Stanfield was walking away from him after the fight.
“Prior to the shooting, the video shows Stanfield is standing upright, facing away from Lutes and takes several steps away from him as the security guard fires his firearm, hitting the victim two times in the upper left side of his back, ” a probable cause statement says.
Stanfield died at the scene, according to police.
The State of Utah employs Lutes through Citadel Security as a security guard for the building where Stanfield was reportedly trespassing and declined to leave.
Stanfield was killed next to the Utah Department of Workforce Services building and the Utah Labor Commission building.
The shooting occurred on a public plaza, which Shearer said may have been closed to the public at the time of the shooting. Shearer did not say if the man was actively trespassing on the plaza at the time of the shooting, or if Lutes would have had the authority to order Stanfield to leave the plaza.
Lutes is at the Salt Lake County Jail after speaking with detectives.
Police said surveillance video and questioning Lutes led them to arrest him as a suspect for murder.
Police said they were not aware of a call to police for assistance but was not sure if the Lutes called for backup from his security company.
Citadel Security said it is fully cooperating with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s investigation.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by this tragedy,” the company said in a statement emailed to 2News.
Citadel Security’s priority is to make sure all within the organization meet “the highest standards,” the statement says. The company said it will begin its own administrative investigation of information released to it by authorities.
“Citadel Security is committed to the safety and wellbeing of the communities we serve,” the company said. “We have heart felt grief for the individual that lost their life and our thoughts and prayers go out to their family.”
