At least two people have been killed and six others injured during a shooting Wednesday evening at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse in Salt Lake City, Utah, according to authorities.
Of those injured, three are in critical condition, the Salt Lake City Police Department said. Police spokesperson Glen Mills told The Salt Lake Tribune the conditions of the other three people are unknown because they were transported to the hospital in private cars.
Authorities say a fight broke out in the parking lot of the church during a funeral, which erupted into gunfire, per ABC 7 Chicago. Police were called to the church at around 7:30 p.m. local time.
Bonkers.
It’s not clear from the reporting that I’ve seen if the people involved in the car park altercation were people involved in the funeral.
All the victims were adults. At least three of the injured were in critical condition, police said.
Police said they do not believe the shooter had any animus toward a particular faith. They also don’t think the shooting was random.
“We don’t believe this was a targeted attack against a religion or anything like that,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said.
The red brick church in the northwest Salt Lake City neighborhood mostly serves Tongan congregants and holds regular worship services in their native tongue, according to its website.
The shooting occurred at the Rose Park 5th Ward meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 660 N. Redwood Road, where Riverside 2nd Ward also gathers. The initial call came in around 7:30 p.m.
The shooter or shooters then fled north on Redwood Road, Salt Lake City police Chief Brian Redd said. There was no suspect in custody as of about 11:15 p.m.
All eight people were shot outside the church, Redd said. Police do not believe the shooting was a “targeted attack” against the faith, he said, or that it was random.
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
So tragic, so recurring. It makes me sick inside. I was going to send out thoughts and prayers, but then I remembered thoughts and prayers are worthless. How about some sensible gun control? The fact that two people were killed at a funeral in a church parking lot means people are walking around packed. Armed at a church funeral. There is so much wrong with this.
I am far from a snowflake liberal. I am a gun (dozens) owning liberal, but I support basic gun control. To drive a car in this country, you need to pass a driving test, carry a valid license, have your car registered and licensed, and have it inspected every year. No one is screaming about this.
Spoiler alert: Not a damn thing is going to be done about this epidemic of violence that is eroding our country.
This is the building where my Sister's Ward meets. There is lots of crime in that area. The Ward has security that patrols the church parking lot during services to prevent break-ins.
So tragic, so recurring. It makes me sick inside. I was going to send out thoughts and prayers, but then I remembered thoughts and prayers are worthless. How about some sensible gun control? The fact that two people were killed at a funeral in a church parking lot means people are walking around packed. Armed at a church funeral. There is so much wrong with this.
I am far from a snowflake liberal. I am a gun (dozens) owning liberal, but I support basic gun control. To drive a car in this country, you need to pass a driving test, carry a valid license, have your car registered and licensed, and have it inspected every year. No one is screaming about this.
Spoiler alert: Not a damn thing is going to be done about this epidemic of violence that is eroding our country.
And to operate a car there needs to be valid insurance in place.
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So tragic, so recurring. It makes me sick inside. I was going to send out thoughts and prayers, but then I remembered thoughts and prayers are worthless. How about some sensible gun control? The fact that two people were killed at a funeral in a church parking lot means people are walking around packed. Armed at a church funeral. There is so much wrong with this.
I am far from a snowflake liberal. I am a gun (dozens) owning liberal, but I support basic gun control. To drive a car in this country, you need to pass a driving test, carry a valid license, have your car registered and licensed, and have it inspected every year. No one is screaming about this.
Spoiler alert: Not a damn thing is going to be done about this epidemic of violence that is eroding our country.
And to operate a car there needs to be valid insurance in place.
I can't even begin to imagine the trauma that would come with trying to engage in what is often a key component of the grieving process, only to have it interrupted by a horrific tragedy.
"Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." Psalm 139:16 ESV
A week after a shooting outside a Salt Lake City Latter-day Saint meetinghouse left two dead and six injured, authorities have arrested a man they say obstructed their investigation.
Salt Lake City police made the arrest Tuesday afternoon on suspicion of felony obstruction of justice. The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name people who have been arrested until prosecutors have filed charges.
This marked first arrest in the high-profile case.
Police say the man was inside the church on the night of the Jan. 7 shooting and “closely matched” witness descriptions of one of the shooters. According to arrest documents, police recovered a video from the man’s phone taken about a month before the shooting showing him handling a firearm that authorities say was recovered from the scene.
The shooting occurred during a memorial service at the Rose Park 5th Ward meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 660 N. Redwood Road, where the Riverside 2nd Ward also gathers. Police identified the two men who died as 38-year-old Sione Vatuvei and 46-year-old Vaea Tulikihihifo.
The man who was arrested has “reported involvement” with the Tongan Crip Gang, police said in arrest documents, and was at the event dressed in gang colors and attire.
Last week, police Chief Brian Redd said there was an indication that there were “individuals at the scene that were potentially involved in gang activity” but that authorities did not know the cause of the violence.
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The man who was arrested told police shortly after the shooting that he had stepped into the church parking lot when he heard the gunfire, arrest documents say. He told investigators he was not involved in the altercation and was not near the area where the shooters were.
Arrest documents say authorities recovered a blue hat — believed to be the man’s — from the church parking lot where spent cartridge casings and a handgun were also found.
Cellphone video recovered by investigators also showed the man driving a car with another man shortly before the funeral. “The male in the passenger seat was identified as one of the other males involved in the altercation,” arrest records say, “who had shown up at a local hospital with a gunshot wound.”
The passenger was seen in the video displaying a handgun consistent with the firearm recovered at the scene, police say.
Presumably the man attended the funeral in gang colours and with a concealed weapon.
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
