TOOELE, Utah, Nov. 27, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A Tooele man was arrested Thursday and booked into jail for allegedly shooting a man whom he reportedly had threatened previously, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Justin Lee Gibson, 29, was booked into Tooele County Jail on a charge of attempted homicide.
Tooele City Police officers were dispatched at about 8 a.m. Thursday to a camping trailer, where a man reportedly had been shot twice with a handgun, according to the probable cause statement filed in 3rd District Court in Tooele County.
Upon arrival, the officers met with the 37-year-old victim, who had been shot in the upper chest/shoulder area and his hand, the probable cause statement says. The wounded man was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
Officers identified Justin Gibson as the individual who shot the victim with a .40 caliber handgun, the statement says.
A female witness told the officers she had awakened to Gibson sitting on the bed next to her, and said she asked him what he was doing. She also noticed that her phone had been moved from where she put it when she went to bed.
According to the statement, the female witness said that, minutes after waking up, she heard her front door open, and the victim came into the trailer. She said the victim was returning her dogs to her.
The female witness told police the victim did not threaten Gibson, but Gibson fired the handgun at him three times.
After Gibson was advised of his Miranda Rights at the police station, he told the officer he was in bed when he “heard the front door get ripped open.” Gibson said the male victim threatened that he would stab him if he were in bed with the female, and Gibson said he feared for his life.
Gibson also said he shot three times in the direction of the victim, even though it was dark, as he “was confident it was the male victim, who had been threatening him several days before…”
When officers asked the female witness if Gibson was asleep when the victim entered the trailer, she said he was awake and sitting on the bed, the affidavit states. She also said she “felt like he was waiting on the male victim to arrive.”
She provided the police with messages from the victim telling her he was coming to her trailer to drop off her dogs. She also told them that Gibson had threatened to kill the victim several times previously, the statement says.
On Tuesday, Nov. 24, the female had reported to Tooele police that she and Gibson had an argument, and he had threatened to shoot the male victim and fired one shot from the trailer, according to the statement. Gibson left before police could speak with him.
He was booked into jail where he is remains on a no-bail hold.
