Suspect in West Jordan SWAT standoff identified

The West Jordan Police Department (WJPD) announced today that the suspect that was involved in a several-hours long SWAT standoff has been identified as Elhelbawy Adam Idrees. Idrees was a 26-year-old male.

A neighbor, Van Walthers, spoke to ABC4 and said that Idrees was renting the residence where the standoff took place, near 1900 W and 7300 S. She said, “I know the homeowner, he was renting out some rooms to others. He was in the home last night and a friend of one of the renters came in. I guess there was some heated discussion. I don’t know a lot about that, but then the suspect started brandishing a gun, and so the homeowner left and called the police, and that’s when all of the things started here.”

WJPD confirmed that multiple people were inside the home. However, before law enforcement arrived, everyone besides the suspect and a female had left the residence. Law enforcement began negotiations with the suspect and reported that the other individual came outside sometime during negotiations.

Walthers told ABC4 about the neighborhood. She said, “I mean, there’s always been incidents, you know, with people doing silly things, but you know this is the first time anything like this has ever happened.”

“Another family just next door to him had just moved in this week. So, I think that’s a rude awakening, you know, to have something like that happen, but yeah, we’re pretty quiet little area,” Walthers also said.

During the hours-long standoff, WJPD issued a shelter-in-place for a three-block radius surrounding the residence. Law enforcement said that they would continue negotiations until it no longer seemed like negotiations would be successful or until the suspect left the home.

After several hours of efforts to get the suspect to surrender, negotiations stopped. West Jordan Police Department received and executed a search warrant to enter the home. They were able to make entry and reported that shots were fired around 9:20 p.m.

“Several loud booms periodically, like a half hour apart. I was wondering what that was, almost sounded like a gunshot or some kind of breach of some sort,” an anonymous neighbor reported hearing during the standoff.

At this time, law enforcement has not provided any other information about Idrees. In their statement, they said, “While we are glad that no other members of our community were injured during this incident, we are always saddened by the loss of life.”

The shooting is being investigated as an officer involved critical incident (OICI). A total of nine officers have been placed on paid administrative leave, and Unified Police Department’s OICI protocol team is taking over the investigation.

Sergeant Andrew Hercules, with WJPD, said this is typical protocol during an OICI.