A 56-year-old woman is facing a felony charge after police say she pulled a 9mm firearm from her white Toyota 4Runner and pointed it at a man who was simply photographing a nearby fire on 300 South Redwood Road. Shaun Gayleen Webb was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on September 8 on one count of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, and has since been released to await court hearings on the charge.
Bystander Says He Was Told to Find Something Better to Do
According to ABC4 Utah, Salt Lake City police were dispatched to the area of 300 South Redwood Road after reports of a person with a weapon while a fire burned nearby. The victim told officers he was taking pictures of the fire from the west side of the road when Webb allegedly told him to “find something better to do,” then pulled a firearm from her center console and pointed it at his face. He ducked, then took pictures of Webb's vehicle before calling police.
Investigators say the man's photograph showed a woman's hand holding a 9mm firearm, according to the police report cited in the same account. Officers later located the 4Runner near Sequoia Vista Circle. The gun was seized as evidence.
Webb Says She Retrieved the Gun After a Spitting Threat
Webb told police that a man approached her vehicle and threatened to spit in her face, and she speculated, according to police, that the confrontation stemmed from a political sticker on her vehicle. She said she retrieved her firearm in response to that threat, but clarified that the man never moved to open the vehicle door and had already run away by the time she calmed down, pulled over, and got out of the car. A front-seat passenger backed up part of her account, telling police a man did approach the vehicle and threaten to spit on Webb, and that Webb pulled out her firearm and pointed it out the window — though the passenger denied that Webb pointed the gun directly at the victim, per the report.
What Utah Law Says About Deadly Force Over a Spit Threat
The Legal Questions Raised by Webb's Account The gap between Webb's account and the felony charge she now faces raises a question about whether her actions were legally justified. Separately, Utah Code § 76-2-405 allows non-deadly force to stop someone from unlawfully entering an occupied vehicle, but reserves deadly force for entries attempted violently, stealthily, or tumultuously with intent to commit personal violence, according to the same statute.
Webb faces a third-degree felony aggravated assault charge.
A Possible Pretrial Path for Webb's Defense
A Possible Pretrial Path for Webb's Defense Webb may have a specific procedural option available before any trial. Utah law allows defendants asserting a justification defense to request a pretrial hearing at which prosecutors must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the force was unjustified, or the charges must be dismissed, according to the Giffords Law Center. That mechanism was recently put to use in Salt Lake County: this month, a Utah Third District Court judge granted a prima facie self-defense claim in a separate Salt Lake City shooting case, forcing prosecutors to meet that same high evidentiary bar at a pretrial justification hearing, per KSL TV.
Firearm Case Clearance Rates
A federal review by the National Case Closed Project found the department maintains a 28% clearance rate for aggravated assault cases involving firearms.
Webb's case adds to a string of recent firearm-related charges across the Salt Lake metro area that Hoodline has tracked in gunfire near Central Station. As with all pending criminal matters, the charge against Webb remains an allegation, and she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
