Officers who shot a Utah student 12 times during a deadly traffic stop have revealed he carried a gun and refused to get out of his car during a heated altercation.
Authorities have yet to release bodycam footage of Chase Allan being targeted by five officers on Wednesday, but they say one officer can be seen yelling “gun, gun, gun!” calls. after seeing the 25-year-old’s gun.
It comes as videos and photos emerged of Allan at a shooting range in a 2018 Instagram post where he wrote, “Can’t thank my grandpa enough for the shotgun!”
Separately, Allan’s cousin posted a strange statement to Facebook saying he “strongly feels that mistakes were made on both sides,” adding “the police are doing or trying to do right.”
Allan – who was described as a “gracious, loving soul” – was pulled over on Wednesday by officers from the Farmington Police Department in Davis County, Utah, for driving with an “illegitimate” license plate.
Police who fired 12 shots at Chase Allan, 25, (pictured) during a traffic stop, claim he had a gun in his vehicle
Instagram photos from 2018 show Allan at a shooting range. He captioned the post: ‘First time skeet shooting, can’t thank my grandpa enough for the shotgun! One day I hope to pass it on’
Allan is survived by his mother Diane, father Kevin and sister Courtney
It’s the same reason his mother Diane was apprehended last April, court records show she was also driving with an expired license plate.
He is said to have rolled down his window just a few inches and refused to identify himself, asserting “his independence from the laws of the land.”
Police claim they have exhausted ‘several attempts to persuade Mr Allan to cooperate’ and asked him to get out of his BMW 3 Series.
“When Mr. Allan refused to leave the vehicle, one officer opened the door of the car and another officer tried to remove Mr. Allan from the vehicle,” police said in a statement to KSL TV.
At that moment an observing officer shouted the words ‘gun, gun, gun!’ A struggle ensued that seemed to last only a few seconds and gunshots were heard.
Officers detained Mr. Allan and began to assist him.
“There’s an empty holster on Mr. Allan’s right hip and a gun is on the floorboard on the driver’s side of the vehicle.”
Allan died in hospital later that day.
The department said it had not spoken to the officers involved and had only reviewed bodycam footage at the scene.
It added that video footage is only “part” of the investigation and acknowledged “understanding of the incident may change as more information and evidence is gathered and analysed.”
Crime scene photos show bullet holes in the 25-year-old’s car
Allan allegedly rolled down his window just a few inches and refused to provide identification, claiming “his independence from the laws of the land”
Earlier reports showed that police were ordered to turn off their body cameras just minutes after the incident.
A 2018 Instagram post from Allan shows him at a shooting range.
The full caption read, ‘First time shooting skeet, can’t thank my grandpa enough for the shotgun! Someday I hope to pass it on.’
On Friday night, his cousin Austin Allan appeared to defend police in a lengthy post saying he “doesn’t know enough to judge for himself.”
“All we knew at first was that Chase was here, then he wasn’t, and apparently he was shot by the police,” Austin wrote on Facebook.
‘What do you do with that information? You defend your family until there is more evidence to say exactly what happened.
“I believe that in most cases the police are doing or trying to do right. I try to put myself in their shoes.’
He added: “I strongly feel that mistakes were made on both sides. I wish people obeyed more, I wish the police didn’t jump the gun.
“Updates say Chase had a gun. I don’t know if the gun was next to Chase, if he had it in the passenger seat or on the floor, or if he never had a gun.”
The post continues, “However, I am angry with this whole situation and wish I could just send it to the police, but I can’t say for sure at this point if that’s the right thing for me to do personally.
“I just want justice, whatever that may be.
‘I miss my cousin. For me personally I don’t see him going that far, things don’t feel right to me, but feelings and facts are not the same.’
He then pays tribute to Chase, whom he called “a good man.”
Chase’s cousin, Austin, said in a Facebook post published Friday night that he “strongly feels that mistakes were made on both sides.”
It contrasts with the statement of the rest of the Allan family, who say they learned of his ‘brutal murder’ through the media and accused the police of a cover-up.
A post shared by Allan’s mother Diane read: ‘The police are stopping us. Our family has not been allowed to see Chase and has not been approached by authorities or law enforcement with information about this investigation.
“Our family has not been properly notified of Chase’s death as a close relative. We found out about Chase’s death, along with the entire community, through news reporters and written articles online.”
Allan graduated from Davis High School in 2016, before playing football at UC-Davis and Utah State University.
His mother said he had been studying law for the past few years.
“He was a gracious, loving soul known to everyone in his community as caring, considerate and kind and would do anything for anyone in need,” she wrote.
“He was always selflessly helping and protecting others in need.”
She added that her son had a “shy and calm demeanor” but quickly made friends who she said will fondly remember him.
Diane, a real estate agent, sued the Farmington Police Department during a traffic check in April last year.
According to court records, she said the police had no right to conduct that traffic check.
Documents filed in federal court show that Diane believed that the rules of the City of Farmington did not apply to her as an independent resident of the state of Utah.
Allan represented herself in filing the lawsuit.
Allan’s mother, Diane (pictured), sued the Farmington Police Department over her own traffic incident. Both were stopped for driving with an expired driver’s license
Allan graduated from Davis High School in 2016, before playing football at UC-Davis and Utah State University
As “one of the sovereign people of Utah,” driving her own vehicle in Farmington, Allan argued that she had an “inherent right” to “take the public highway without restriction of her liberty,” she wrote in the court case.
Allan claimed those rights were violated on April 7, 2022, when police apprehended her.
The Utah court citation alleges that Allan did not carry a driver’s license because she was driving with an expired license plate.
Police said at the time of Diane’s traffic violation that the expired registration was the reason for the stop, they disputed this reasoning.