SALT LAKE CITY — A US marshal shot and killed a defendant on Monday in a new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City after the man rushed at a witness with a pen, authorities said.
Defendant Siale Angilau, 25, was taken to a hospital with a chest wound and died of his injuries, the FBI said. Under standard procedures, Angilau was not restrained in the courtroom, the bureau said.
Perry Caldwell, who was in the courtroom with his adult daughter, said Angilau was shot several times as he lunged toward the witness stand and tried to strike the witness. At least six shots were fired, he said.
The witness, who was not injured, appeared to be in his mid-20s and was testifying about gang initiation, Caldwell said. The person was not identified.
Caldwell and his daughter were in court to support his mother, Sandra Keyser, who was punched in the face during a holdup in 2002 and was scheduled to testify.
‘‘It was kind of traumatizing,’’ Sara Jacobson, Caldwell’s daughter, said of the shooting.
Angilau was one of 17 people named in a 29-count racketeering indictment filed in 2010 accusing gang members of conspiracy, assault, robbery, and weapons offenses.
Prosecutors said Angilau robbed convenience stores in Salt Lake City and assaulted clerks on five occasions from 2002 to 2007. A clerk was shot in the final robbery, according to the indictment.