Utah | Prosecutors will seek death penalty against man accused of killing two Utah police officers

Court documents share new details of deadly Tremonton shooting

Prosecutors will pursue the death penalty against the man accused of shooting and killing two Tremonton-Garland police officers and wounding a third sheriff’s deputy and his service dog, according to court documents filed Wednesday that shed new light on the shooting.

Ryan Michael Bate, 32, is now facing 20 separate charges for the shooting that rocked the small, northern Utah community of Tremonton Sunday night — that includes two counts of aggravated murder for the deaths of Tremonton-Garland Police Sgt. Lee Sorensen and officer Eric Estrada.

Aggravated murder is a capital offense in Utah, allowing Box Elder County prosecutors to pursue the death penalty. On Wednesday, they announced their intent to put Bate on death row if he is convicted.

In addition to the aggravated murder counts, Bate is facing a lengthy list of 18 other charges. They include:

Four counts of attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony
Endangering a police service canine, a third-degree felony
Three counts of possession of an incendiary device, a second-degree felony
Two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon with criminal intent, a class A misdemeanor
Three counts of assault (domestic violence with a prior), a class A misdemeanor
Unlawful detention, a class A misdemeanor
Threat of violence, a class A misdemeanor
Three counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a class B misdemeanor

According to an indictment filed in 1st District Court in Box Elder County, Bate got into an argument with his wife Sunday — prosecutors say he headbutted her, then slammed her head with a door before grabbing her throat and pushing her against a wall.

Prosecutors also say Bate held his wife down on their bed, threatening to kill her as she tried to calm him down. Three children were present during the attack, court documents allege. Bate’s wife was eventually able to call 911, but hung up “in an effort to summon law enforcement.”

One of the officers arrived — it’s unclear in court documents whether it was Estrada or Sorensen — and spoke to the wife, who “assured there was no physical violence,” the charges read. As the officer was driving away, prosecutors say Bate grabbed a rifle and shot at the police vehicle.

The officer parked his car and called for backup, according to court documents, as the wife ran down the street yelling that Bate had a gun. As the officer went to cross the street and help the woman, Bate fired another shot, killing the officer.

Shortly after, the second officer arrived on scene to find his colleague “laying in the road,” the charging documents state. As he rushed over to provide aid, Bate fired another shot, killing the second officer.

Mike Allred, a Box Elder County sheriff’s deputy, then arrived on scene — as he pulled up, Bate fired two more shots which barely missed Allred but still caused him injuries. Allred’s police service dog was also struck. Allred and his dog, Azula, have both since returned home and are recovering.

After killing the second officer, one of Bate’s neighbors who drove a car “that looked like an unmarked police vehicle,” passed by the house, and prosecutors say Bate fired another shot at the neighbor, hitting their car, before they were able to flee.

Bate “then approached the two fallen officers with a revolver and rifle in hand, as he continued to look around for other targets,” according to court documents, before he was “subdued and taken into custody.”

“During a search of the home, officers located three Molotov cocktails,” the indictment reads.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, during his PBS Utah news conference on Thursday, told reporters that he supports prosecutors pursuing the death penalty, and that it’s “very appropriate in this case.”

Bate had been charged with similar domestic violence-related crimes before, including charges last year where prosecutors say he strangled an unnamed victim. Those charges were later dropped when the victim declined to testify, according to KSL-TV.

Source: utahnewsdispatch.com, Kyle Dunphey, August 21, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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