South Salt Lake » On Friday, 70-year-old Mary Nance Hanson went looking for Tetyana Nikitina carrying a loaded gun, police said.
About 3 p.m., she found the 34-year-old teacher outside the Head Start school where she worked.
Hanson fired five shots from her .38-caliber revolver as Nikitina sat behind the wheel of her Dodge Magnum, killing her.
As the single mother of two bled, Hanson called 911 from the corner of the parking lot and told dispatchers she had just shot the woman. When asked why, Hanson replied she did not know and that was all she was going to say.
And on Friday night, she still wasn't talking, said Unified Police Lt. Don Hutson.
"That is still a mystery to us. What may have tipped her over the edge, why the timing, that is not clear," Hutson said. "I'm not sure we're going to know that until the time comes for trial, because she's not explaining."
Hanson lives in Taylorsville, as did Nikitina, and police said they had a relationship, though they aren't saying exactly what their relationship was.
The shooting occurred at the Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start, 336 E. 3900 South. Hutson said no children attend on Fridays, but teachers from that school and other preschools were there for training.
The teachers were preparing to go home when the shooting occurred. Nikitina was one of the first to leave and the only one to exit the building's rear, Hutson said.
Police say Hanson shot at least five bullets. Nikitina was struck in the head, and her car rolled into a parked minivan. Hutson said police found five shell casings in the parking lot and five bullets in the pistol's cylinder, noting that Hanson had reloaded the gun.
Hutson said some teachers in the school saw the shooting. Angela Crosby, a parent who was taking a child-development class at the Head Start building, heard the shots.
"When I looked out the window, the lady was in the corner" of the parking lot, Crosby said.
Crosby said Hanson was pointing to herself. Police forcibly took her to the ground, Crosby said, and took her gun. Hanson had a gash on her forehead when she was placed in a police car about an hour later.
Hanson had a concealed firearm permit issued or renewed three months ago, Hutson said.
Erin Trenbeath-Murray, director of Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start, said Nikitina, a Ukrainian immigrant, had taught in the program for two years. She has two children, ages 7 and 9, one of whom had previously gone through the program. The children have been placed in their father's custody.
That school will be closed next week and the program will have mental health specialists working with grieving students and staff, Trenbeath-Murray said.
"She had a deep impact on many children and families," Trenbeath-Murray said. "We're just very sorry to lose her. Our hearts go out to her family and friends."
