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Isabel Sanchez teared up while pointing to a framed photo of her grandson as a child. Diego Mendoza, who was gunned down outside a Sears store in downtown Salt Lake City on Sunday, loved to jingle a string of dolphin wind chimes hanging in his grandma's kitchen so she would know he had arrived, she said.
Mendoza, 16, was shot to death and a second person, identified as 23-year-old Eder Orona, was critically wounded Sunday in the shooting outside the store.
Orona was listed in stable condition at an area hospital on Monday, Salt Lake police said. Police have not identified Mendoza as the fatal victim, but his family, classmates at Granger High School in West Valley City and a district administrator confirmed that he was the student killed in the attack.
Dozens of family members gathered at Sanchez's home on Glendale Drive in Salt Lake City to reminisce about Mendoza, who relatives said adored spending time with young cousins and alternated living at Sanchez's house as well as the homes of his aunt and mother.
"He liked to embrace the whole family, so he lived in three places," Mendoza's mother Antonia Resendez said on Monday.
Police on Sunday said that Mendoza, Orona and a third person had pulled into the parking lot of Sears, 754 S. State St., in a maroon sport utility vehicle just before 5 p.m. A white four-door sedan pulled up nearby. Two men armed with pistols got out of the second car, walked up to the SUV and opened fire on Mendoza and Orona, who were found outside the SUV, police said.
Mendoza was shot in the head and found dead at the scene. Orona was shot four times in the chest; he was able to speak to responders at the scene and was taken to the hospital in "very critical condition," said Salt Lake City police Lt. Dave Hoffman.
The third occupant of the SUV ran into Sears to call for help, Hoffman said. He was not injured.
A witness saw the two gunmen get into the white car and go south on State Street, Hoffman said. Police believe the suspects' vehicle is a 1991 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue with duct tape covering the front passenger window. The witness noted a license plate number of 488UTW, but the number does not match any plates, Hoffman said.
Police said Monday that the man who exited the white vehicle and began shooting was a Latino man, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and about 165 pounds. He had short, brown curly hair. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.
Police did not know whether the shooting is gang-related, Hoffman said.
Text messages were circulating among students at Granger on Monday with news of Mendoza's death.
Granite School District spokesman Randy Ripplinger said the district was informed of the death Monday morning. He said Mendoza was registered as a sophomore at Granger.
Mendoza's aunt said the teenager wasn't involved with a gang, despite some news reports that have dubbed her nephew's death as "gang-related." Sylvia Colin of Salt Lake City described her nephew as a "quiet, funny and shy" kid who was interested in trying out for the Granger High football team.
"He was just in the wrong place at the wrong moment. He wasn't a gang kid," Colin said.
Saul Varela grew up in Mendoza's neighborhood and became friends with him when the two were in middle school.
"It just hit that I'm never going to see him again," said Varela, 16.
Mendoza's funeral will be Friday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 174 E. 900 South in Salt Lake City. Family members haven't yet set the funeral's time. A visitation is planned for 7 p.m. Thursday at Neil O'Donnell and Sons Mortuary, 372 E. 100 South. A memorial fund is set up in Antonia Resendez's name at Washington Mutual Bank.
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*Tribune reporter ERIN ALBERTY contributed to this report.