Riedman shot roommate dead after locking him out of Salt Lake apartment

A single gunshot through an apartment door on Redwood Road ended the life of 24-year-old Kade Tuttle and landed his roommate, 47-year-old James Stacey Riedman, in the Salt Lake County Jail on a first-degree felony murder charge, KUTV reported.

Locked Out, Found Dead Outside the Door

Officers with the Salt Lake City Police Department responded to the apartment near 700 North Redwood Road just after 1 p.m. Monday after Tuttle called for service to say Riedman had locked him out of their shared apartment and refused to let him back in. When officers arrived, they found Tuttle on the ground outside the apartment door with an apparent gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Man arrested for shooting, killing roommate through apartment door in Salt Lake City

Barricaded Inside, Redwood Road Shut Down for Hours

Riedman allegedly barricaded himself inside, refusing to come out, which prompted a SWAT response and a standoff that shut down Redwood Road for several hours. He eventually surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident, then booked on one count of first-degree felony murder and one count of second-degree felony obstruction of justice.

Weeks of Conflict Between Roommates

According to arrest documents, Riedman told investigators he had decided to rent a room in the apartment to Tuttle several weeks earlier. He said there had been several incidents with Tuttle since then and that he felt Tuttle was disrespecting him and taking advantage of him. When Tuttle returned and found himself locked out, he began knocking on the door and yelling at Riedman to let him in. Tuttle told him he was going to kick the door down, and Riedman said he became scared for his safety and believed Tuttle was going to come inside and hurt him.

Riedman shot roommate dead after locking him out of Salt Lake apartment

One Shot, Then Silence

Riedman allegedly retrieved a gun and fired a single round toward the door, claiming the shot was meant to scare his roommate away. After firing, he told investigators he heard a gasp outside the door but did not check whether anyone was injured and did not call police or emergency services. Investigators said Riedman could not provide any reasonable facts showing why he believed he was in imminent danger, and that he hid the gun and the spent casing in his bedroom.