Utah father charged after allegedly instructing his 4-year-old to shoot at police

A Utah man was charged this week after allegedly telling his 4-year-old child to shoot at police while he was being arrested at a local McDonald’s.

The man, whose name was not released by local authorities, was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Midvale, Utah, after restaurant employees reported to the police that he had “brandished a firearm” at the drive-thru upon receiving an incorrect order, a news release from Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake reported.

After they saw the weapon, the McDonald’s workers told the man to wait for his correct order near the front of the restaurant and called the police. When officers arrived, they asked the man to exit his car, but he repeatedly refused, police stated in the release.

The release said officers then pulled the man from the car. At the time, one officer reported seeing a firearm pointed at police from the back window of the vehicle.

The officer alerted others at the scene to the weapon and attempted to swipe it away as the gun fired a round. Recognizing that the person holding the gun was a child, he yelled “kid,” according to the release. The officer reportedly sustained a minor injury to his arm, and no other injuries were reported, according to the release.

The child who fired the weapon was 4 years old, according to the release. The child’s 3-year-old sibling was also reportedly in the back seat of the vehicle at the time.

An investigation into the incident revealed that the father allegedly told his child to fire the weapon at police, the release noted.

“This is a sad day for law enforcement and our community,” Sheriff Rosie Rivera said in a statement. “To have an adult think it is okay to encourage a four-year-old to pull a firearm and shoot at police illustrates how out of hand the campaign against police has gotten.”

“This needs to stop and we need to come together as a community to find solutions to the challenges we face in our neighborhoods. Officers are here to protect and serve and we are beyond belief that something like could happen,” Rivera added.

The investigation into the shooting is still ongoing, according to the release.