Family forgives ‘scared 18-year-old kid’ who held 99-year-old woman hostage in West Valley City

An 18-year-old man is in jail after holding a 99-year-old woman hostage for more than three hours in West Valley City early Saturday.

The Metro Gang Unit was investigating a shooting that had happened just after 8 p.m. in Magna, near 2685 South on Melville Drive, according to Unified police Lt. Brian Lohrke.

Their investigation led them to a hotel in West Valley, near 3500 South and 2200 West.

There, they found an 18-year-old, who held a handgun to his head, then ran into a nearby backyard, Lohrke said. The man shot out a window and went inside just after midnight.

Most of the family members that live there got out of the house, but a 99-year-old grandmother didn’t.

He barricaded himself and the woman in the house until 3:30 a.m., when he let his uninjured hostage leave the house.

At 5:20 a.m., he tried to escape through the garage in a car. But, he couldn’t get into the car, and police had the driveway blocked anyway, Lohrke said.

Investigators don’t believe the man knows the family.

James Gabbard, who lives at the house, told a Salt Lake Tribune reporter the family doesn’t hold any animosity toward the 18-year-old.

“The boy was scared. He made a bad mistake and thank goodness no one was hurt,” Gabbard said. “He’s just a scared 18-year-old kid. That was obvious. He didn’t harm anybody here, and we forgive him.”

Gabbard declined to comment further, after a traumatizing and sleepless night.

Police took him into custody, and he is being held at the Salt Lake County jail on accusations of several felonies — including aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping — and misdemeanor allegations.

There were multiple warrants for the man’s arrest, one stemming from driving without a license and the other for escaping from Weber County jail.

On Sept. 14, he and two others assaulted a boy at Mill Creek Youth Detention Center, in Ogden. The assault was believed to be gang-related, according to charging documents. He plead guilty in 2nd District Court to second-degree felony assault by a prisoner and was sentenced in November to 240 days in the Weber County jail, then 36 months of probation.

On Nov. 22, he escaped custody, according to court documents. He had been out of jail for the day, doing community service at a Weber County animal shelter, and didn’t return. He was charged with third-degree felony escape from official custody and a warrant was issued for his arrest.