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WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Sept. 26, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Police responded to the scene of a fatal shooting Wednesday night near 3030 W. 3500 South, West Valley City.
Lt. Steve Burke, WVC Police Department, said the shooting was called in at 9:11 p.m., and arriving officers found the male victim at the scene, not conscious or breathing, situated half in and half out of a silver sedan.
“Officers started CPR on him,” Burke told Gephardt Daily. “The paramedics arrived shortly thereafter, hurried and loaded him, took him off to Jordan Valley West Hospital. About 5 minutes after that, we were advised he passed away.”
Police determined that three people had been in the car, including a 20-year-old driver, a female; the shooting victim, who was 26; and another male passenger, age 24.
“During some sort of altercation in the car, the shooter was hit with a bottle or some other object,” Burke said. “During the altercation, he produced a handgun and fired at least one round, shooting the victim in the abdomen. And the driver pulled off in this parking lot to get help.”
The suspect fled, and a search by officers and K-9s failed to locate him, Burke said.
“We’ve got a couple of witnesses that were in the parking lot, and the driver, who will be taken back to the office for an interview,” Burke said.
The suspect had not yet been positively identified as of 11 p.m.
“We do believe we have him identified through social media, but we are not sure the name on the account is accurate,” Burke said. “We are trying to work to positively identify him, and when we do, the detectives will probably release that at a later time.”
Burke described the suspected shooter as a Hispanic man of average build, standing about 5 feet 5 inches tall. The man’s appearance was average, Burke said, except for a distinctive tattoo on his left forehead. The officer did not describe the tattoo.
The suspect is presumed to be armed since no firearm was found in the car, Burke said.
