Utah cop kills man who attacked with snow shovel

A Salt Lake City officer fatally shot a man who attacked him with a snow shovel Thursday afternoon, police said.

The unidentified man was going door to door in the city's Avenues district asking to shovel walkways for money. A resident was suspicious, because there wasn't enough snow on the ground. The man matched the description of a man seen looking into cars Wednesday.

As the officer approached around 3:30 p.m. MT (5:30 p.m. ET), he "was attacked with a shovel and returned fire and killed the man," Sgt. Robin Heiden said.

It was not immediately known how many shots the officer fired, but two neighbors compared the sound to fireworks.

The unidentified officer, who has been with the department for more than a year, was examined for minor injuries.

The killing was Utah's first homicide of the new year.