2 dead, 6 wounded in shooting outside LDS church in Salt Lake City

Note to readers • For the latest on this shooting, see multiple stories on sltrib.com.

Two people were killed and six were injured in a shooting outside a Salt Lake City church where a memorial service was held Wednesday night, according to Salt Lake City police.

Of the six injured, three were in critical condition, Salt Lake City Police Department spokesperson Glen Mills said. The condition of the three others was not immediately known because they were taken to hospitals in private vehicles, he said. All were adults.

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.

Officers were looking at surveillance video from nearby businesses and license plate readers on Redwood Road and 700 North, Redd said.

He noted several people were detained for questioning but none had been considered a suspect. Investigators continued to interview witnesses late Wednesday.

“We are following all leads,” he said. “Our officers are working hard, and we will work until we bring these individuals to justice.”

Redwood Road remained closed in the vicinity of the church late Wednesday, with police urging people to stay away from the area. Anyone with information about the shooting may contact Salt Lake City police at 801-799-3000.

The two wards, or congregations, that meet at the church are Tongan, according to the meetinghouse website. Susi Feltch-Malohifo’ou, CEO of one of Utah’s largest Pacific Islander organizations — Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources — said her phone had been flooded Wednesday evening with messages about the shooting.

She knows several of the individuals who were shot, she said, but she was unsure of their conditions.

[Read more: LDS bishop shares what he experienced when gunfire rang out at his congregation’s SLC meetinghouse]

Many members of the Pacific Islander and Latter-day Saint communities in the area were attending a memorial service for an individual, Feltch-Malohifo’ou said, when the shooting occurred outside the church, which serves mainly Tongan congregants.

“Condolences to the family,” Feltch-Malohifo’ou said. “This is a tragedy in our community.”

The nonprofit she leads, often referred to by its abbreviation as PIK2AR, has been focused on violence prevention, including trying to eliminate gangs within Utah’s Polynesian communities. She said it’s too early to know if that was a factor in the shooting Wednesday night.

“As much as we’ve been working on violence prevention, we can see that there’s still a lot of work to be done in this area,” she said. “Violence is never the answer.”

Near the scene late Wednesday, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said during a police news conference that “this should never have happened.”

“This should never have happened outside a place of worship,” she said. “This should never have happened at a celebration of life.”

She said investigators “are not going to rest until the individuals responsible are brought to justice. Full stop. No matter where they go, we will find them.”

Sam Penrod, a spokesperson for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a Wednesday statement that the church was “aware of a serious incident that occurred outside a church meetinghouse at 660 North Redwood Road in Salt Lake City tonight as a memorial service was being held in the chapel.”

The church is cooperating with law enforcement, the statement said, “and is grateful for the efforts of first responders.”

The statement concluded: “We extend prayers for all who have been impacted by this tragedy and express deep concern that any sacred space intended for worship should be subjected to violence of any kind.”

Hillary Koeller, a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Public Safety, and Brady McCarron, the deputy chief of the office of public affairs for the United States Marshals Service also confirmed the shooting late Wednesday.

McCarron said marshals happened to be in the area at the time and came to the scene to assist SLCPD but were not involved in any investigation.

Late Wednesday, in the parking lot of a McDonald’s that sits behind the meetinghouse, about two dozen people stood by yellow police tape, waiting for any information.