SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Police in two Salt Lake City suburbs said they are reviewing the way they handle 911 calls involving stalking and threats after records revealed authorities received two reports about a man who wanted to kill his ex-girlfriend. Neither complaint stopped him from carrying out the threat by opening fire on a car full of children this month, killing the woman and her son and injuring two other children.
Victim Memorez Rackley’s stalking report about Jeremy Patterson three days before he shot her was not treated as a domestic violence complaint because the onetime couple was not married or living together – a distinction made by police that advocates said Friday is risky because many victims are in dating relationships or have just broken up.
“Why would you exclude half of the population of your domestic violence victims?” said Mark Wynn, a retired police lieutenant who served with Nashville’s domestic violence division and is now a consultant.
Rackley told police on June 3 her ex-boyfriend Jeremy Patterson had sent her threatening text messages that included pictures of her children, followed her and confronted her about the breakup.
Officers from the suburb of Sandy told Patterson to stop contacting her, advised her to stay with a friend and told her how to apply for a protective order. But because it was not considered a domestic violence case, they did not ask a series of questions designed to determine whether the case could turn deadly, said Sandy police Sgt. Jason Nielsen.