Partway into the memorial service at their church late Wednesday, Nani Tulikihihifo could tell her baby son was getting fussy.
It had been a while since her 5-month-old had eaten, and she worried his cries might disturb those who’d gathered that evening to eulogize a member of their community. She looked over at her husband, Vaea, and whispered to him to run to their minivan and grab some of the formula she’d packed.
Vaea Tulikihihifo ducked out the doors with the keys in hand. He never came back inside.
Seconds later, at least 10 shots were fired in the parking lot outside the church meetinghouse in Salt Lake City. And Vaea Tulikihihifo — whom loved ones called “Junior,” “Boney” and sometimes, with a laugh, “Tomato Head” — was struck.
Family members say they don’t know if Tulikihihifo, 46, ever reached the car for the formula before he died on the pavement.
But they say he had nothing to do with the fight that started outside the church, where he and another man were both fatally shot. Police have confirmed Tulikihihifo’s identity and named the second man killed, 38-year-old Sione Vatuvei. Six others were also injured.
[Read more • LDS bishop shares what he experienced when gunfire rang out at his congregation’s SLC meetinghouse.]
The shooting outside the Rose Park 5th Ward meetinghouse has rocked the community. There are now bullet holes in the side of building, which serves two Tongan congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and police paint outlines where casings landed.
“Why him? We just don’t understand,” said Kalo Nau, a first cousin of Tulikihihifo, who spoke to The Salt Lake Tribune on behalf of her family. “He was just an innocent bystander. This is such a senseless act.”
(Tulikihihifo family) Pictured is Vaea “Junior" Tulikihihifo, 46, who was fatally shot Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 outside of a Salt Lake City church.
Police have said the shooting stemmed from a dispute between people who were at the memorial service. They said it was not a targeted attack on the Latter-day Saint faith and reiterated they don’t suspect it was random.
Nau said her family is struggling with the death of Tulikihihifo, whom she described as a loving and dedicated father of 12, a Lakers and Dodgers fan, and a Costco employee who brought so much cheer to the workplace that customers came in just to say “hi” to him.
Nau said she raced to the church at 660 N. Redwood Road as soon as she started getting texts and calls from others who were there. Another family member told her that Tulikihihifo had spotted a younger cousin when he ducked outside and went over to hug him.
And then, they told her, they saw the towering Tulikihihifo, with his wavy black hair, suddenly crumple to the ground.
[Read more • What we know the day after a deadly Salt Lake City shooting at an LDS church.]
Nau said that Tulikihihifo had been at the memorial service for Asi Sekona, a member of the Pacific Islander community whom Tulikihihifo had known when they both lived in California. They weren’t close, but Nau said Tulikihihifo felt he needed to pay his respects.
It was how he operated in life, she said, always putting others first — especially family.
“Everybody has their flaws, but Junior,” she said, choking back tears, “he was just there for everybody.”
He collected nicknames, she said with a smile. His friends and family called him “Boney” because no matter what he ate, he never seemed to gain weight. But they all joked that he still had a big head, and that’s where “Tomato Head” came from.
Tulikihihifo had been married previously and lost his first wife in a car crash. They had two children together. He later married Nani, and they share 10 kids, Nau said. Tulikihihifo prided himself on his family and constantly showed off pictures or bragged about his kids.
“He was just such a loving father,” Nau said.
One of his older sons recently got married. Another had just left for a Latter-day Saint proselytizing mission.
(Tulikihihifo family) Pictured is Vaea “Junior" Tulikihihifo, 46, with his youngest kids and his wife, Nani. Tulikihihifo, at the back middle in the white plaid shirt, was fatally shot Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 outside of a Salt Lake City church.
Tulikihihifo’s faith was an important part of his life, Nau said. “He was a God-fearing man,” she added. Any time he saw a missionary when he was out and about in Salt Lake City, she said, he’d pay for their lunch.
Several family members posted videos online, showing him doing that. Other videos captured his silliness and his love of dancing.
He spent most of his childhood in Los Angeles but moved to Utah with his family as a teenager and graduated from Orem High School, Nau said. He also grew up in a big family, the third of eight siblings, and loved being surrounded by his loved ones, their loud voices and laughs, their joy.
Tulikihihifo, she added, was literally the first one to arrive at family reunions and the last to leave, always staying late to help clean up.
“For our family, it’s just not going to be the same,” Nau said. “He was just a loving man with a big heart.”
Susi Feltch-Malohifo’ou, CEO of one of Utah’s largest Pacific Islander organizations — Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources — knew both people killed.
“This is a tragedy in our community,” she said Wednesday night.
On Thursday, on Facebook, she said the other man killed, Vatuvei, “was heading in a great direction” in life after some struggles. Vatuvei, she said, leaves behind a wife and son.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Rose Park 5th Ward meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the day after a fatal shooting erupted in its Salt Lake City parking lot, as seen early Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.