HOBBLE CREEK CANYON, Utah, Jan. 3, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) -– A 29-year-old man was shot in both legs by his father after he assaulted his parents at the home the three shared near Springville in Utah County Tuesday morning.
The son, Jesse Dell Peterson, is in custody, and all three were transported to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, where they are being evaluated, according to a news release Tuesday afternoon from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
The news release said that at approximately 7:30 a.m. deputies with the USCO were dispatched to a report from a man who said his son was assaulting him and his wife.
The caller, Edward Keith Peterson, 68, of Hobble Creek Canyon, reported that his son was targeting him and his wife, Connie Lorraine Peterson, 67.
The father reported that the son was assaulting them with a variety of household objects as well as with his fists. The father then told dispatchers that as his son continued to assault him and his wife, that he shot his son in the leg.
Deputies arrived at the location of the assault in the Holiday Hills subdivision in the Left Fork of Hobble Creek Canyon. They found the suspect, Jesse Peterson, and took him into custody and provided medical treatment. He told deputies he had been using methamphetamine.
Connie and Keith Peterson were transported by ambulance to the hospital while Jesse Peterson was flown by a Life Flight helicopter.
Jesse Peterson was initially in critical condition, but is now stabilized.
Connie and Keith Peterson are in serious condition. Connie Peterson sustained a fractured skull and internal bleeding. Her injuries may require surgery before she is stabilized. Keith Peterson was treated for his injuries and released.
Deputies have been told Jesse Peterson is expected to be released; he will then be booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of aggravated assault and additional charges related to other actions he took during the course of the attack.
Jesse Peterson is currently on felony probation with the Utah Department of Adult Probation and Parole.
Initial information gathered by investigators is that the father shot the son in self-defense, but the investigation remains active.
