SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 9, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — Police have arrested a man in connection with a 2022 shooting death.
Oakland Alope Taoipu Faamoe, 31, has been arrested for investigation of alleged:
- Murder, a first-degree felony
- Obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony
- Felony discharge of a firearm, a second-degree felony
The murder victim was Anetupou Niualiku, Faamoe’s arrest document says.
At 9:22 a.m. on Jan. 23, 2022, officers from the Salt Lake City Police Department responded to a shooting that had just occurred in the area of 130 S. 800 West in Salt Lake City. Officers arrived and found a female who had been struck by gunfire and was declared deceased on scene.
Witnesses interviewed said a white passenger car was driving by when someone inside shot in his and Niualiku’s direction. Niualiku was struck and killed.
Several surveillance cameras were observed in the area including a camera that captured the suspect vehicle just prior to the shooting.
The suspect vehicle is described as a white Hyundai sonata with light color interior. The vehicle is then seen leaving the area at a high rate of speed.
“The investigation stalled until a recent witness came forward and told your affiant about a possible suspect. The witness said that (Faamoe) was responsible for the shooting and that he was with another male during the shooting. The other male involved in the shooting confessed to the witness that (Faamoe) was responsible for shooting and killing the victim and that he was with (Faamoe) during the homicide.
“The details that were provided to your affiant were not known to the public and are consistent with the facts of the case.”
Faamoe was driving a white Hyundai in January of 2022, and had been given a traffic citation a week prior to the homicide, the statement says.
The vehicle, registered to Faamoe’s mother, had since been repossessed and scrapped, but photos of the vehicle were obtained, and “had several unique characteristics consistent with the suspect vehicle in the surveillance footage from the homicide.”
Faamoe’s phone records also placed his device in the area of the homicide at the time of the shooting.
Faamoe was booked into the Salt Lake County jail system, to be held without bail.
