SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 29, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A 17-year-old arrested for allegedly shooting three people, one who subsequently died, at Tanner Park earlier this month has been charged as an adult.
A probable cause statement from the 3rd District Court of Salt Lake County said Andrew Whatcott, of Herriman, is facing charges of:
- Murder, a first degree felony
- Six counts of discharge of firearm causing serious injury, a first-degree felony
- Possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony
- Obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony
On Oct. 18, police were called to Tanner Park at 2695 E. Heritage Way just after 4 p.m., where two men and a woman had been shot. One of the men, Domnyk Marez, 25, later died from his injuries.
When officers arrived, they found a silver Subaru parked curbside on Heritage Way, the statement said, with multiple bullet holes in the windshield and the rear passenger door.
Marez was slumped over in the front passenger seat with a gunshot to the right side of his forehead, the statement said, while the other woman and man who were shot were both lying on the ground near the car. Marez was removed from the vehicle and lifesaving measures were performed until EMS arrived. The three injured victims were all transported by ground ambulances to local hospitals; Marez was subsequently pronounced dead.
The other man sustained at least four gunshot wounds, including his right leg/calf area, right hand/fingers, right elbow, and the right side of his abdomen. One of his fingers required amputation, and he remains hospitalized. The female victim sustained a single gunshot wound; the bullet went through her right arm and into the side of her chest where the bullet lodged, the statement said. She suffered a collapsed lung.
“Witnesses reported that a man fired shots into the Subaru then fled south down Heritage Way in a black SUV,” the statement said. “One witness reported to officers that he saw a male fire gunshots into the silver Subaru. The suspect was standing on the grass, held a handgun sideways and fired into car.”
The witness gave a thorough description of the suspect, including what he was wearing.
Another witness took photos of the suspect’s vehicle as it fled the scene. The photos showed a black 2004 BMW X3, with a Utah license plate. The license plate number showed the vehicle registered to Whatcott. Surveillance footage captured the BMW as it drove away and appeared to show the driver was alone in the car.
A few blocks south of Tanner Park, Heritage Way terminates at a roundabout that connects to 2300 East. Witnesses walking on 2300 East found a black Taurus 9 mm handgun on the side of the road, the statement said. Officers retrieved the gun and found that it was loaded, with one cartridge in the chamber and two rounds remaining in the magazine. The serial number had been scratched off.
Seven spent 9 mm shell casings were found at the scene of the shooting. Test fires from the Taurus handgun found on 2300 East were forensically compared to the casings from the crime scene and it was determined that the casings at the scene were consistent with being fired from the Taurus.
The female victim told officers that she had driven her silver Subaru to Tanner Park, with the two male victims, who were her friends. She went to Tanner Park to purchase marijuana from a 17-year-old male she knew as Drew, the statement said. When Drew, the suspect, arrived in his black BMW SUV, the female victim was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car. Whatcott parked, walked to her car, and sat in the front passenger seat, the statement said.
The female victim and Whatcott had a disagreement about the price of the marijuana, the statement said, and she told the suspect to get out of her car. When he refused, Marez physically pulled Whatcott out of the front passenger seat. Marez then got into the front passenger seat himself and the other male victim got into the back seat. Marez told the female victim to leave; that was when the suspect allegedly started shooting at them.
Surveillance video from a Salt Lake City apartment complex showed Whatcott arriving in his BMW at approximately 4:20 p.m. He was located in an apartment and transported to Salt Lake County Jail, where he is being held without bail. The suspect is a category I restricted person because within the last 10 years he has been an adjudicated delinquent for an offense which if committed by an adult would have been a violent felony.
The next day, an autopsy was performed on Marez and it was preliminarily determined his cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and his manner of death was homicide.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.
