WEST JORDAN, Utah, Nov. 19, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Surveillance video has given West Jordan Police investigators more information on a fatal shooting Thursday in West Jordan.
Footage shows a silver passenger car pulling up next to a black Mercedes van parked on the street, and someone in the silver car firing shots at the man sitting in the van’s driver’s seat.
Video showed the van then pulled forward, striking the silver passenger car in the rear and the back passenger-side panel.
Officers responded to calls at about 2:20 a.m., and arrived at the scene, near the intersection of Ticklegrass Road and Sparrowtail Road.
“When officers got there they found the black Mercedes van off to the side of the road, and a man laying on the side of the road who appeared to be shot more than once,” Lt. Richard Bell, West Jordan Police Department, told Gephardt Daily.
“Detectives got out there to start piecing together what had happened, doing witness interviews, and viewing some surveillance.”
Bell said officers believe they know the identity of the victim, who appears to be in his 20s or 30s, but the Medical Examiner will have to confirm the identity and family notifications will have to be made before the man’s name can be released.
What people can do to help is watch for the silver passenger car, possibly a Cadillac CTS sedan, although that is not yet confirmed.
“It will have significant rear end damage and damage to the back panel on the passenger side,” Bell said. “It will be severely dented, and may have black paint transfer.”
Bell said he could not yet answer questions such as whether the crime might be gang related.
“At this point, as far as motive and everything, that’s part of what we are working to establish,” he said. “We are coming through the evidence, and at this point we are not able to release more information.
“It’s a very dynamic, active investigation right now, and there are some things we can’t talk about yet.”
Bell said the scene, roughly a block north of Mountain Shadows Elementary School, was cleared at about 9:30 a.m.
Police worked with the Jordan School District to minimize any possible traumatic affect on on children walking to school who might pass by investigators still processing the crime scene.
“We actually contacted the school district and let them know what was going on,” Bell said. “There were extra crossing guards, and the route the kids might walk through the area was changed to get them to school safely and not have them walking past a crime scene.”
Gephardt Daily will have more information on this developing story as facts are confirmed.
