On the evening of January 4, 2012, Jared Daniel Francom, a 30-year-old White male, was part of a team of officers from the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force executing a "knock and announce" search warrant at a residence in Ogden, Utah. The warrant was based on a tip from an ex-girlfriend of the occupant, Matthew David Stewart, who claimed he was growing marijuana in his basement.
Having received no answer after knocking, the officers breached the door to enter the home.
Once inside, the situation rapidly devolved into a chaotic gunfight. Stewart, a 37-year-old Army veteran, opened fire on the officers from a concealed position with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. The house was filled with the sound of gunfire as officers scrambled for cover and returned fire. During the intense exchange, six officers were struck by bullets. Francom was hit multiple times and sustained fatal injuries. He was transported to a local hospital where he died in the early morning hours of January 5, 2012. He was a seven-year veteran of the Ogden Police Department and was survived by his wife and two young daughters.
The five other wounded officers sustained injuries ranging from serious to critical. The suspect, Matthew David Stewart, was also wounded during the shootout. After the initial exchange of gunfire inside the house, Stewart fled to a shed in his backyard where he barricaded himself before eventually surrendering to police. He was taken into custody and transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Following the incident, Matthew David Stewart was charged with aggravated murder, which could have resulted in the death penalty, as well as multiple counts of attempted aggravated murder and cultivation of marijuana. Stewart maintained that he did not hear the officers announce themselves and believed he was the victim of a home invasion. While awaiting trial, on May 24, 2013, Stewart was found to have hanged himself in his jail cell and died by suicide.
