Utah Department of Corrections officer Stephen Anderson was shot and killed on campus Monday when Curtis Michael Allgier, an inmate from the Utah State Prison, allegedly took the officer’s gun and shot him in the head.
The shooting occurred around 7:45 a.m. at the U’s Orthopaedic Center in Research Park. Allgier, whose heavily tattooed face features a swastika and the words “skin head,” was in an examination room receiving treatment for back problems.
Because Allgier was undergoing an MRI, his metal restraints had to be replaced with plastic ones during treatment. Police are investigating whether or not Allgier was wearing plastic FlexiCuffs when he escaped.
At some point during the examination, Allgier was able to steal the gun from Anderson, who was escorting him, and open fire, said U Police Chief Scott Folsom. Folsom indicated there were signs of a struggle. Anderson, 60, died instantly.
Allgier, 27, then fled on foot before carjacking a blue Ford Explorer at the intersection of Foothill Drive and Wakara Way.
After hearing reports of the shooting over the radio, a police officer ran Allgier’s name through court records to find friends’ and relatives’ homes that Allgier would likely visit.
Police spotted and began chasing the vehicle near 900 West and 300 South. The chase involved officers from several jurisdictions and reached speeds of 100 miles per hour.
The chase ended near an Arby’s restaurant at 1700 South and Redwood Road, shortly after police used spikes to immobilize Allgier’s vehicle.
Allgier then fled into the fast food restaurant.
Police arrived at the Arby’s at the same time as Shirley Smiley, 57, with her husband and son. She didn’t see Allgier, but heard the “popping noise” of a gunshot inside.
Police yelled, “Get down!” and the three of them dropped to the ground in the parking lot, Smiley said.
Police captured Allgier hiding inside a manager’s office moments after a customer, Eric Fullerton, said he jumped the counter and wrested the gun from Allgier.
Fullerton was sliced in the neck with a serrated knife during the struggle at the restaurant.
“I don’t know where I got the strength,” Fullerton told the Deseret Morning News. “I just knew I couldn’t let go (of the gun) or I would be dead.”
Allgier was not armed when he was captured, said Sgt. Rich Brede.
The inmate has since claimed he did not shoot Anderson and that the gun went off when he tried to escape.
As he was putting on his prison clothes after an MRI for a sore back, Allgier said he told his plan to Corrections officer Stephen Anderson and added, “Don’t play hero.”
Anderson, however, tried to stop him, Allgier told KUTV in an interview at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail.
‘So I grabbed the gun and hit him with it and it just went off,” Allgier said in an interview Wednesday with Salt Lake City TV station KUTV. “I didn’t kill that officer on purpose.”
Allgier was in prison on a parole violation. His criminal record includes burglary, forgery and at least one weapons crime, according to court records.
He has been affiliated with several white supremacist gangs while in prison. Authorities from the Department of Corrections said Allgier had been housed in a single-occupant cell for his own protection.
Allgier had previously visited the hospital three or four times for lower back pain, police said. Police are investigating whether the escape was a planned effort.
Patterson said it is common for inmates to be taken to the hospital for medical purposes. As many as 15 inmates visit the U hospital each business day. Typically, one security officer is assigned to each inmate — although some exceptions are made when convicts are known to be especially dangerous or have attempted to escape in the past. Anderson was the only officer assigned to Allgier.
Inmate care at the hospital has been suspended until Thursday morning while an internal investigation is conducted, according to Associate Director Christopher Nelson.
Allgier is now in the county jail awaiting charges in Anderson’s death. Aggravated murder carries a possible death sentence.
“This is a time of mourning for us,” said Tom Patterson, executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections, during a press conference Monday afternoon. “Stephen Anderson dedicated his life to the people of the state of Utah.”
Anderson had worked with the department for more than 22 years.
Jaime Winston, Dustin Gardiner, Roxanne Vester and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Courtesy of Utah Department of Corrections