SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 3, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — At least 20 people were arrested — while dozens more escaped — after a violent brawl early Saturday morning at a suspected gang gathering in Jordan Park, not far from International Peace Gardens.
Salt Lake City police were first called to the area near 1140 W. Fremont Ave. at 4:47 a.m. with reports of shots fired.
As the responding officers approached the park, there were several other bursts of gunfire.
While cops took cover behind their cruisers, dozens of people began to flee.
Some jumped into the Jordan River trying to escape.
Police were finally able to close in to the area after putting out a call for all available units to back them up.
Officers set up a wide containment area in the surrounding neighborhood, where they nabbed a number of suspects, including a few who were plucked from the river.
Police at the park told Gephardt Daily — the only media outlet at the location during the melee — that there were no reports of serious injuries and their investigation was continuing.
Gephardt Daily will update this story as more information becomes available.
I am originally from So. Calif. and watched the parks become gang battlegrounds. Every citizen needs to step up and make a stand before we lose our city. One of the best things about Salt Lake is our beautiful, clean, safe parks. If we don’t stop gang activity now they will no longer be ours. I suggest neighborhood watch. Help patrol parks at night. Ask your mayor to add more lights. It sounds ineffective but it works. Band together. Take your families and friends and spend the day. Have a bbq, play some games. Invite your neighborhood patrol officers to have a burger or a soda. Chase your children and laugh, but be present. Be proud of your community and show everyone that you will not offer it up to anything other than other families trying to find a safe, inexpensive place to love and be with their family and friends. The police cannot do it alone.
The problem is rooted around heroin. Slc has tons of heroin being shipped in, like pounds and pounds. The gangs fight for control and more of it. People can get it way cheaper if they are then a gang member.
Not sure what the solution is but I agree with your post.
It wasn’t a Ganga gathering. It was a bunch of stupid kids drinking & celebrating graduation doing stupid things.