A gang-related shooting and subsequent vehicle crash late Tuesday night left two people dead and four suspects booked into jail on murder and other charges.
The incident occurred in Kearns about 7:30 p.m., near the intersection of 5600 West and 5400 South. Detectives were on the scene through the night gathering evidence and conducting interviews.
UPD Lt. Brian Lohrke said shots were fired from a blue pickup truck into a house where gang members were suspected to reside on the corner of 5240 West and 5400 South. No one inside the house was hurt, but one of the suspects inside the truck sustained a minor gunshot wound to the upper leg and the truck then collided with a westbound white car, killing the couple inside.
The crash victims were identified by UPD as 55-year-old Lloyd Everett Pace and 50-year-old Tami Lynn Woodard, both of Kearns.
Police were unsure if the one wounded suspect was hit by return gunfire from the house, or was accidentally shot inside the car by another suspect, Lohrke said.
Witnesses told police that they saw two of the suspects, one wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, running from the scene. Officers, aided by police dogs, located and arrested them hiding in the neighborhood.
In all, UPD Lt. Brian Lohkre said that four Latino males — ages 24, 19, 19 and 17 — were in custody and behind bars. The adults are in the Salt Lake County jail, the 17-year-old in juvenile detention.
Police believe all four suspects are gang members, and all were booked on suspicion of two counts each of first-degree felony murder, and multiple counts of discharging firearms toward a person or persons.
The three adult suspects were 24-year-old Jose Luis Munoz-Lugo, Argenis Daniel Ramirez-Saedt, 19, and Rosalio Alvarez, also 19. They were being held without bail.
The Kearns area has experienced a rash of gang violence over the past several weeks, and in at least one case a 17-year-old boy was previously wounded.