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A newspaper on Friday posted video of a Box Elder County sheriff's deputy pointing his gun at a car as it slowly drives toward him seconds before the deputy shoots and kills the driver.
The Oct. 26 shooting itself is out of view of the dashboard camera, though the audio recording captured three pops from deputy Austin Bowcutt's pistol. A minute later, video posted by The Tremonton Leader shows Bowcutt pulling Troy Clark Burkinshaw, 52, out of Burkinshaw's Volkswagen Jetta and trying to help him along a road outside of Corinne. Burkinshaw died at the scene.
The Box Elder County Attorney Stephen Hadfield on Friday said Bowcutt was legally justified in shooting Burkinshaw.
The video obtained by The Leader shows Bowcutt pointing his gun at Burkinshaw's windshield as he very slowly drove toward the deputy. The Jetta bumped into the deputy's legs a few times as Bowcutt retreated backward and yelled at Burkinshaw to stop the car. Then Bowcutt and the Jetta move off camera.
"Then, when Deputy Bowcutt feels the rev of the engine on his legs, he reasonably feels that his life is in danger and his only option is to use deadly force and fire his weapon," Hadfield wrote.
A wounded Burkinshaw drove past the deputy, striking his knee, before stopping his car against a fence. The video shows a dog jumping out of the car as Bowcutt tries to remove Burkinshaw.