This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Salt Lake City police were hunting Sunday for a trio of suspects in the midnight shootings of two University of Utah football players.

Sophomore left guard Lo Falemaka and true freshman running back Marcel Brooks-Brown were shot in the upper torso after an altercation at a private party, and police said both were in serious condition but stable and expected to recover. A Utah athletics spokeswoman confirmed Brooks-Brown had been released from a local hospital as of Sunday evening.

"Obviously, our first concern is that both Lo and Marcel are going to be OK, which appears to be the case," said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham in a statement. "We don't have all of the details yet, but it is our understanding that they are the victims in this incident and we feel very fortunate that they are expected to fully recover. It is unknown at this time how soon they will be able to return to the football field, but we are optimistic it will be in the near future."

SLCPD Sgt. Robin Heiden said the shootings took place at 11:53 p.m. Saturday at a home at 310 S. 1300 East. Trouble began when the three male suspects showed up uninvited and were asked by the host to leave, but they refused. Falemaka and Brooks-Brown then confronted the interlopers, a fight began, and one of the suspects pulled out a handgun and opened fire.

The suspects fled the residence on foot and eluded a police search of the area.

The wanted men all were described as in their 20s. Two of the suspects were black — one 6-foot, wearing a red bandanna under a baseball cap, and a red shirt; the other 5-foot-9, with short dreadlocks under a baseball cap, and a red shirt.

The third suspect was white, heavyset, with a beard.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call SLCPD at 801-799-3000.

Falemaka graduated from Cottonwood High and walked on at the U of U before earning a backup role at left guard. He's appeared in both of Utah's games this season.

Brooks-Brown came to the U of U from Rio Linda, Calif., where he rushed for 5,457 yards and 70 touchdowns as a prep and found a mentor in former Utah running back Marty Johnson. He has yet to make his first game appearance.

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