Two police officers responding to a domestic disturbance call were shot and killed in Utah, and a man was taken into custody after bystanders persuaded him to drop the gun, authorities said Monday.
The officers were identified as Sgt. Lee Sorensen, 56, and Officer Eric Estrada, 31, of the Tremonton-Garland Police Department.
A sheriff’s deputy and a police dog also were shot and wounded in their car as they arrived to help at a neighborhood in Tremonton on Sunday night. The deputy from Box Elder County was released from the hospital Monday and the dog was hospitalized in fair condition, police said.
“These officers are definitely heroes,” Police Chief Chad Reyes in neighboring Brigham City said at a news conference Monday morning.
When police respond to domestic disturbance calls, “we really don't know what we're walking into,” he said. “And they are one of the most dangerous events that we can be dispatched on.”
Police received multiple 911 hang-up calls from a home in the city. A single officer from the Tremonton-Garland Police Department arrived first and was speaking to someone at the home when the man came out with a gun, police said in a news release. Reyes said he believed the man lived at the house.
“The male opened fire on the officer, striking and killing the officer,” the news release said. A second officer from the department who responded “was immediately fired upon by the same male suspect" and was killed, it said.
After the officers were shot, bystanders persuaded the man to put down his weapon, police said. Up to 50 officers from multiple agencies responded. SWAT teams arrived to clear the home and verify that there was no further threat, police said.
The ranch-style home was cordoned off by yellow crime scene tape Monday. A trampoline and a blue children's pool could be seen on the front lawn.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called what happened “a terrible and tragic night." He posted online that he joined the state in mourning the loss “of these courageous law enforcement officers" and ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in their honor.
The suspect was arrested on charges of aggravated murder, police said. The names of the wounded deputy and the suspect have not been released.
Sorensen had served 17 years as a law enforcement officer and received multiple honors for his service to the community. He had recently been promoted to sergeant and was supposed to be sworn into his new role on Friday, the department said.
Estrada had worked in the jail in Box Elder County and as a patrol officer before joining the Tremonton-Garland Police Department. His colleagues described him as a dedicated father and husband who loved being on patrol so he could interact with people in the community.
Tremonton, which has about 13,000 people, is about 75 miles (121 kilometers) north of Salt Lake City at the junction of Interstates 15 and 84. It advertises itself as “a favorite midway stop for vacations" to destinations such as Yellowstone National Park, Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon. It also calls itself “Utah's City of Murals” with a walking tour featuring 18 works of public art.
The story has been updated to correct the first name of the police chief to Chad.
Associated Press writer Hannah Schoenbaum contributed reporting from Salt Lake City.
In this image made from video provided by KTVX, police at the scene of a shooting in Tremonton, Ut., Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (KTVX via AP)
In this image made from video provided by KTVX, police at the scene of a shooting in Tremonton, Ut., Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (KTVX via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
