According to police, an Ogden man who was killed in a shootout with police fought with a woman outside the bar

He left the area in a stolen SUV before the police shooting, officials said.

The Ogden man who police shot dead Tuesday after opening fire on an officer had been paroled and was fighting with a woman near a bar on 25th Street before the shooting, Eric Young said. Ogden Police Chief, Wednesday.

Alex Lopez, 23, was convicted of four counts of firing a firearm, a felony, in 2019. He was released from parole later that year and arrested again in 2021 for violating parole before being released again, Young said.

Young mentioned Lopez’s criminal history at a news conference Wednesday, where he expressed concern about the Justice Reinvestment Initiative Act of 2015, which reduced several sentencing guidelines in Utah and set maximum sentences for the time someone could serve for violating probation can serve.

“I fear that as Utahns we have become deaf to the problem and its repetitive nature,” Young said.

This was the second police shooting in Ogden in a week. On the afternoon of June 6, an Ogden officer was shot dead after police were called to the scene of a reported violation of the protective order at the Washington Park Apartments complex at 170 N. Washington Blvd and an “exchange of fire” ensued. The officer was treated for non-viable injuries, but the man shot by police died at the scene.

However, Ogden’s violent crime numbers have remained stable, Young noted Wednesday. “Part 1 crime,” considered the most serious violent crime, has actually declined 51% in Ogden over the past 15 years, he said.

“We’ve seen a drastic drop,” Young said. “What even worries me is that we’re seeing a larger proportion of criminals trying to be rehabilitated in our community and not in a place where they’re safe.”

Just before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, two callers at a bar near the 100 block of 25th Street reported that Lopez had gotten into an argument with a woman in a parking lot. Both callers identified the vehicle he was getting into as a black SUV, which Young said was stolen. Officers responded at the scene and attempted a traffic stop on 17th Street, but Lopez drove away.

Officers again attempted to stop him on 8th Street, but Lopez got out of the car and shot both police vehicles present. The officer who got out of a squad car, returned fire and shot Lopez has not been identified.

Lopez died at the scene. No officers were injured and the officer who shot Lopez is on administrative leave, according to department logs. The shooting is being investigated by Weber-Morgan’s Critical Incident Task Force.

Nine Ogden police officers are currently on administrative leave due to shootings, Young said.

At the time of Tuesday’s police shooting, a passenger was in the stolen SUV that Lopez was driving, Young said. This person fled the area and remains out of custody.

Once the task force reviews the officers’ body camera footage, it will be released, Young said. This was the twelfth police shooting in Utah this year, according to a Salt Lake Tribune database.