Male dead, 2 others injured in West Valley City shootings

Police are responding to shots fired in West Valley City. One male is confirmed dead, and two others were transported to the hospital. Photo: Gephardt Daily/Richard Trelles

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WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Feb. 13, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — One male is dead and two others were transported to a hospital after gunfire erupted Tuesday afternoon in West Valley City.

The suspect or suspects remain at large, according to a tweet from the West Valley City Police Department.

The shots rang out at about 4:15 p.m. in the area of 3500 W. Parkway Blvd.

Immediately after, a witness said a woman’s voice could be heard screaming, “My baby, they shot my baby.”

Jennifer Kernes lives in the neighborhood.

“I heard like five gunshots, then we heard some lady scream,” she told Gephardt Daily. “The next thing I knew, all these cops and everything were showing up.

“It was kind of a flashback to what had happened here before, a couple of years ago. Our first thought was maybe gang-related.”

Roxeanne Vainuki, spokeswoman for the West Valley City Police Department, said she didn’t know whether the shootings were gang-related.

“We are talking to witnesses, gathering information,” she said. “It’s really too early at this point to tell.”

A female at the scene, who gave her name as Kiria, said her 17-year-old brother was one of those shot, and her uncle was another of the victims. She did not know their condition at the time she spoke.

Kiria told reporters that police were not sure of the suspect’s identity.

“They’ve got everybody in handcuffs now,” she said.

Gephardt Daily has a crew on the scene and will have more information as it becomes available.

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