Salt Lake City officials stand by and watch as the victim bleeds because they didn’t want an elevator door to close. The father of four dies.

Two White Utah officers are under fire for refusing to assist a black man while he was bleeding in an apartment elevator after he was allegedly stabbed by his girlfriend.

Clips from the body camera video released by Fox 13 show Ryan Outlaw, 39, in the fetal position, rocking back and forth in pain from a knife wound in his chest. However, Salt Lake City Police Officers Ian Anderson and Jadah Brown ordered the man to crawl out of the elevator and stood over him for eight minutes without administering first aid. Outlaw had been waiting for the department to send help for over 20 minutes. He died less than two hours after police arrived at the hospital.

The local news channel was alerted to the incident by anonymous sources from the law enforcement community.

Former Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said officers had a duty to help the injured man and reports show all officers must go through hours of training to help trauma patients.

“I didn’t see any minimal efforts to protect this individual,” Burbank said after watching the body cam. He was shocked and disappointed at the lack of urgency the officials displayed.

One of the residents of the Covey Apartments called 911 at 5:56 p.m. on November 13, 2020 after hearing a woman and a man yelling between an apartment unit and a hallway. Records show that no officer was available to respond at the time. The First Officer was dispatched to the building at 18:16

“She’s digging around inside her – like she’s trying to pull out knives and screaming like them,” another caller told an emergency responder. “Oh my God. Okay, he’s been stabbed! He’s screaming for help. He’s limping to the elevator. He’s screaming for an ambulance… Should I go outside and help him?”

“No, I don’t want you to go out there,” the operator replied.

Brown and Anderson arrived at the scene at 6:23 p.m. They dispatched rescue services for Outlaw at 18:25. Body cam footage shows the officers standing over Outlaw, covered in blood, lying on the elevator floor.

What happened man?” Officer Anderson asked. “Hey talk to me man…Ryan what’s up man?”

“Do you even know what happened, Ryan?” Officer Brown asked.

“Ryan, get out of the elevator, okay?” Officer Anderson said.
“Hey, come this way.”

The woman who stabbed Outlaw, Fernanda Tobar, was sitting on a nearby stairwell. She asked the officers to help the man.

“You don’t mind!” Tobar screamed.

“What should I do?” Officer Anderson answered. “We have medical supplies.”

One of the officers reportedly questioned while the other continued to question the outlaw but never touched him.

“Why do you just leave him lying there?” asked Tobar.

Outlaw told officers someone stabbed him in the stomach, but would not say who.

“Help!” outlaw screamed. “I can not breath!”

Paramedics arrived at the scene at 6:31 p.m., a timeline of the incident shows, eight minutes after the two officers showed up.

All law enforcement officers complete four hours of basic first aid and CPR training per Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and complete an eight-hour tactical critical care course. POST Assistant Director Alex Garcia said the critical care class is preparing officers to “stop bleeding and save lives.”

FOX 13 News reported that Anderson and Brown never received disciplinary action over the incident. Instead, department officials said they did the right thing.

“The men and women of the Salt Lake City Police Department are guardians of our community. They are committed to saving lives, maintaining their professionalism, and treating everyone with compassion and dignity,” current police chief spokesman Brent Weisberg wrote in a statement.

“We understand that community members may have questions about how our officers have responded in support of Mr. Outlaw. As a police department, we stand by the decisions of our officers – decisions that were made quickly based on their assessment of the situation coupled with their training and experience, and their familiarity and ability to provide life-saving assistance.”

Weisberg said that if Anderson and Brown had closed the elevator doors, it would have “allowed the elevator to be called for service and potentially exit the ground floor”.

“Officials duly maintained the integrity of the crime scene. Within moments of observing Mr. Outlaw, officers provided medical assistance, calling for emergency services to respond and providing an initial assessment of the possible injury,” he wrote. “While awaiting the arrival of ambulance and additional police forces, officers were constantly aware of Mr Outlaw’s condition, urging him to go into the ‘recovery position’ and attempting to ask Ms Tobar what was happening to Mr Outlaw be. ”

Burbank, the former boss, said he slammed the department’s response.

“If closing the elevator is that important, pull the person out. We do this all the time when the victim is in a lane,” Burbank said. “My question throughout the video – why didn’t they apply direct pressure? Why don’t you pay more attention to this person bleeding to death in an elevator?”

Ryan’s father, Willie Outlaw, said his family did not see footage of the incident until reporters showed them and that the department’s response was “vague”. Willie described Ryan as a “people person”. He leaves behind four sons.

“It’s just heartbreaking to know that these are the times we’re in,” said Willie Outlaw. “It’s like he has an illness or something… We don’t know if a few more minutes, a few more seconds would have made a difference. We do not know it.”

Burbank said the incident heightened the community’s distrust of the police force and was “as dangerous to the welfare of the police profession as shooting someone inappropriately.”

Tobar was convicted of manslaughter in the assassination.