COPPERTON, Utah, March 19, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — There was a large police presence in Copperton early Sunday morning, as officers from agencies across the Salt Lake Valley responded to reports of shots fired and a possible stabbing at a local apartment complex.
Hastening law enforcement’s response was an unconfirmed and ultimately mistaken report that someone was killed in the confrontation.
Sgt. Melody Cutler, public information officer for the Unified Police Department, confirmed to Gephardt Daily that first responders were dispatched to the Canyon Apartments near 8800 W. State Highway about 12:50 a.m.
When police arrived, they found shell casings and evidence of an attempted stabbing, but there were no dead or wounded victims to be found.
Cutler said, however, one person was taken into custody for aggravated assault.
According to a probable cause statement filed in Salt Lake County’s Third District Court, police said Christian Rodriguez-Solario, 21, was attending a sister’s birthday party when he “got into a verbal argument with another partygoer.
“The altercation moved its way out into the hallway of the apartment building,” according to an investigator’s affidavit, prompting a male who “heard the commotion” to exit his apartment to see what the disturbance was about.
He and Rodriguez-Solario then “exchanged words,” the probable cause statement said. Rodriguez-Solario then “threw up gang signs” before he “produced a knife, moved towards the victim and stabbed the victim in the right, shoulder area.”
The victim, however, escaped injury. “The knife did not pass through his sweatshirt,” the probable cause statement said.
The “victim” then “pulled a handgun” and chased Rodriguez-Solario out of the apartment building, “firing 4 shots in the process.”
Rodriguez-Solario managed to escape the gunfire but he did not escape arrest. He was taken into custody and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. According to court documents, the known gang member has been charged with a single third-degree felony count of aggravated assault involving a knife.
The probable cause statement notes that prior to his arrest Sunday morning, Rodriguez-Solario was recently released from jail and had been on unsupervised probation.
Although no one was injured in Sunday morning’s melee, at least six people were reportedly detained by police in an initial search for suspects. Agencies that responded to the scene include Unified PD, West Jordan PD, South Jordan Police, Herriman PD, South Salt Lake PD and the UHP’s Star 8 helicopter search team.
