SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 10, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A 15-year-old boy was shot at an illegal street racing event on the west side of Salt Lake City Sunday night.
SLCPD Sgt. Keith Horrocks told Gephardt Daily the shooting took place about 10:30 p.m.
“They were out in the area of the street racing, in the area of 3150 W. 900 South, and this 15-year-old patient either drove or hopefully was transported by someone else to a local hospital,” he said. “He arrived in serious condition and got some help, then was upgraded to stable condition after he was transported to the second hospital.”
Horrocks said the SLCPD doesn’t currently have a suspect in the case.
“We don’t have any good information,” he said. “There was also a shooting at a road case on Aug. 2 with the same scenario, although that victim was only grazed.
“Usually when officers get to the location, everybody who was there has left. We locate shell casings, and in this case, we found blood, but there are no witnesses, and generally our victims are not cooperative, or they really don’t know who they had an issue with.”
Horrocks said illegal street racing has gone on for years in Salt Lake City.
“When I was on the motor squad in 2012, it was something that was pretty prevalent in Salt Lake City already,” he said. “In recent months, it seems like it’s actually increased in popularity, and it’s almost like a festival out there.”
Horrocks said the locations change, so officers cannot simply show up and intervene. The racing also has moved to other cities, including West Valley City, he said.
“And they’ve got lookouts a few miles outside where they are racing, we know from intel,” he said. “If police get close, everybody scrams.”
Horrocks said that with the recent increase in street-racing violence, the SLCPD plans to allocate more officers to the problem in coming weeks.
“We have a difficult time allocating resources, because the officers who would generally be on patrol are being tasked with insuring the safety of protesters downtown, and having a bigger presence down there,” Horrocks said.
