TAYLORSVILLE, Utah, Jan. 11, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — Unified Police officials are investigating after a Thursday night shooting that sent a 19-year-old man to the hospital in poor to critical condition.
The attack, with one or more shots fired from a car, has the markings of a gang-related incident, Lt. Manfred Lassig, Unified Police Department, said at the scene, near 1100 West and 3900 South.
“Earlier, we got a call of some shots fired in the area. Upon our arrival, we found a male, approximately 19 years of age, with a gunshot wound to the leg and thigh,” Lassig said.
“One of the neighbors here had started some first aid. One of our officers continued the first aid. They put a tourniquet on the shooting victim’s leg. Fire department got here, scooped the guy, ran him to IMC hospital. Last word we received, he was in poor to possibly critical condition, but we were told it’s not life-threatening.”
The shooting happened at about 10:30 p.m., Lassig said. Based on a witness account, police were looking for a gold-colored sedan. Lassig said a call had gone out for gang detectives and violent crime detectives.
“That’s the kind of behavior we’re getting out of the gangs,” he said. “You roll up, you got a beef with somebody. Instead of trying to discuss the problem, you shoot at them … That’s where you get the problem — you get mistaken identities, wrong cars, whatever — innocent people.”
The gunfire was outside the Callaway Apartments, and Lassig said it was lucky there were no additional injuries.
“They’ll just crank rounds — like here we are in an apartment complex. Shooting rounds in an apartment complex — how many walls could any rounds have gone through?”
Lassig said police were interviewing ear witnesses, but darkness and the fog prevented anyone from seeing what happened.
“We don’t have a lot of eye witnesses except for the victim,” he said. That man had not been questioned because of the need to rush him to the emergency room.
“Saving his life is No. 1 priority.”
