WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (KUTV) — Three people were killed, including an 8-month-old infant, in a shooting at a West Valley City festival.
Officials with the West Valley City Police Department said five people were shot at Centennial Park Sunday night. An 18-year-old male, a 41-year-old female, and an 8-month-old infant died from their wounds.
Officials said the shooting took place at 9:20 p.m. during WestFest, an annual city festival, after two groups of people had “a verbal altercation.”
Police approached the groups to break up the altercation when a 16-year-old male suspect pulled out a gun and fired several times toward the other group. An officer returned fire and did not hit the suspect. The 16-year-old was then immediately taken into custody. Police said he is the only suspect in this shooting, and all victims were injured as a result of his gunfire.
Officials said the 18-year-old killed was in the opposing group from the suspect, but the 41-year-old woman and the 8-month-old were bystanders and were not connected to the altercation. A 17-year-old female and a 15-year-old male were both shot in the arm. Police do not know at this time if the teen victims were involved in the altercation.
A pregnant woman was also injured while attempting to climb a fence to flee the scene.
Roxeanne Vainuku, WVCPD public information officer, said it is difficult for the community to experience a tragedy during an event meant to celebrate West Valley City.
“It’s heartbreaking, I think for all of us, to see something like this happen at something that is just a real treasure, something that we really enjoy in our community,” she said.
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Vainuku said it is not clear if this shooting was gang-related as it is still early in the investigation.
Police will not be releasing the name of the suspect as he is a juvenile, but they plan to give the identities of the deceased victims on Monday after their families are notified.
Detectives are interviewing witnesses who were there at the time of the shooting, but believe there may be others who left the scene. Police ask anyone who witnessed the shooting to contact them at 801-840-4000.
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