A young Utah law student was shot dead by officers during a traffic stop – and his family now claim they learned about the horrifying murder from news reports.
Chase Allen, 25, was gunned down by five Farmington Police Department officers on March 1 while his blue BMW 3 Series was parked outside a local post office.
Cops claim the situation escalated after Allen failed to comply after being asked why his sedan didn’t have a license plate. It is unclear whether he was armed.
Gritty photos taken shortly afterwards show Allen’s feet in red high-top sneakers sticking out of the bottom of a stretcher while his bullet-riddled car parked nearby.
Allen’s family say they were not properly informed of his brutal death. They have accused the police of unlawfully killing their loved one and have accused the police of a cover-up.
The family of Chase Allan, 25, say they are desperate for answers about the circumstances of his shooting by Utah police
In a statement to FOX 13, Allan’s family said the death was “devastating and tragic” and that they were “not yet allowed” to see him.
“The police are walling us off. Our family has not been allowed to see Chase and has not been contacted by authorities or law enforcement with information regarding this investigation,” wrote Diane Allan, Chase’s mother.
“Our family, as the next of kin, was not properly notified of Chase’s death. We, along with the entire community, learned of Chase’s death through news reporters and articles written online.’
Allan graduated from Davis High School in 2016 before playing football at UC-Davis and Utah State University.
His mother said he studied law for the last few years.
‘[Chase] was a gracious, loving soul that everyone in his community knew was caring, thoughtful and kind and would do anything for anyone in need,” she wrote.
“He has always selflessly helped and protected others in need.”
The grieving mum said Allan had a “shy and quiet demeanor” but quickly made friends who she said will remember him fondly.
“He was always selflessly helping and protecting others in need. He went to law school for the last few years and was a patriot who did what he could to defend the freedom and liberty of the people in his community,” she said.
Allan was reportedly shot at 12 times by five police officers during what they describe as a routine traffic stop when he failed to get out of his car
The statement alleges that a few blocks before the stop, several officers were called to the scene. Police have released few details about the case.
The five officers involved were placed on administrative leave during an investigation — they make up 20 percent of the force.
Chase was living at home with his parents in the same city where he grew up at the time of the shooting.
“There’s a lot missing here, right? What the circumstances were,” Chris Burbank, retired Salt Lake City Police Chief, told the outlet.
At around 3.30pm on Wednesday Allan was stopped in a post office car park for driving without a license plate.
A Farmington police officer called for assistance and police say Allan refused to get out of the vehicle.
Officers said several shots were fired in an attempt to get him out.
“That’s how we train and I know my boys and if they fired shots they were probably in fear for their lives,” Farmington Police Chief Eric Johnsen told FOX 13.
“I will argue that there is no license plate violation worth the loss of a human life in this country,” Burbank said.
Allan was shot in the car and later died in hospital.
Pictures from the scene show the 25-year-old being taken to hospital on a stretcher, his car riddled with bullet holes. He died in hospital the same day
“It’s the government’s responsibility to let the public know what we’ve been involved in,” Burbank said.
“This is not just about cities or problems. We see that and it’s really a failure of our system that we can change.’
No Farmington police officer was injured and the Davis County Critical Incident Protocol Team has taken over the investigation.
has contacted the police department.