A Utah mother was charged with attempted murder Wednesday after prosecutors say she shot her ex-husband at a Salt Lake City indoor playground last month while their children were playing.

The shooting happened May 22 after the children’s father showed up at the playground near closing time. He told police, according to the charging document, that his ex, Sarah Elias, hadn’t allowed their kids, ages 3 and 5, to see him in months, and he “found them” there.

The pair argued outside when he arrived, charges state, and he told police that Elias was “kicking” and “throwing elbows” at him before she threatened him with a gun but “struggled to cock it.”

He then ran inside and told employees to call the police. Elias followed him and “fumble[d] around a little more and boom, boom,” he said — shooting him twice.

Elias, 34, was charged with the first-degree felony Wednesday in 3rd District Court. Prosecutors also filed two “alternative” counts against her for felony discharge of a firearm.

That’s because, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said, the evidence support arguments “under both theories.” It’s not unusual in cases where someone is shot and survives, he added.

“Because you’re trying to show they attempted to intentionally kill somebody, to cause the death of another, but that person obviously survived,” Gill said.

If this case goes to trial, and a jury doesn’t believe the facts amount to an attempted homicide conviction, they could still decide to convict Elias on the discharge counts instead.

“There’s a presumption of innocence. These are allegations only,” Gill said, “but based on the evidence that we got, we felt that it’s either an attempted murder or in the alternative, two felony discharges with serious bodily injury.”

Elias was also charged with four counts of domestic violence involving an injury or weapon in the presence of a child — one count per child for each bullet fired. All are third-degree felonies.

The shooting

Two employees told investigators that Elias and her children were well-known at the paid Kids Empire playground, located at 1082 S. 300 West, and regularly spend time there.

Normally, the employees said, according to charging documents, Elias is chatty. But on May 22, they noticed she was “very quiet.” One employee noted that as she checked in, Elias received a call from someone and said: “You can just take me to court.”

That employee, assuming the call was with Elias’ ex-husband, asked Elias to “keep it outside if he showed up.”

Then, the employee said, Elias began “pacing back and forth and looking out the windows.” The employee recalled that usually Elias would get “shaken up” when talking to her ex, but that day she was “eerily calm.”

The ex-husband later arrived at the business. The employee reported that when Elias saw he’d arrived, she asked the employee to watched her children and shared personal information, like her address “just in case something happens,” the charging document states.

“Showtime,” Elias then said, smiling, before going “straight faced” and meeting her ex outside, the employee said.

Soon, the ex-husband came back inside and said Elias had threatened him with a gun.

Elias soon came back inside, too, the two employees told investigators. She then pulled a gun and shot her ex-husband “point blank,” the charging document states.

Immediately after the shooting, one of the employees took the pair’s children outside. That employee described Elias as “calm as a cucumber” when she came to retrieve them about five minutes later.

While the employee said Elias didn’t speak to her, she reportedly told her children that “nothing happened and that ‘daddy has issues,’” the charging document states. Officers soon arrested her.

Police found the ex-husband bleeding and “slumped face-down over a bench.” He was hospitalized in critical condition and his bullet wounds required surgery, Gill said. Bullets were found in the man’s chest and pelvis.

Charging documents allege Elias purchased the gun a week before the shooting.

When investigators detained her near the playground that evening, police found ammunition in her pocket, as well as a gun holster clipped to her waistband, the charging document states. Investigators found the gun and two spent shell casing inside the business.

Gill said he was “thankful that nobody lost their life” and that no children were injured.

When reached by phone Wednesday, a Kids Empire employee declined to comment on the shooting.

The company operates playgrounds across the country, including another Utah location in Midvale.

Court records show that Elias and her ex were married in 2020, and that the ex-husband filed temporary separation documents in 2024. Their divorce was finalized in March, on the grounds of “irreconcilable differences.” Elias was granted primary custody of the kids, and they were supposed to see their father regularly through a joint-custody agreement.

The father filed paperwork in early May requesting a court hearing to establish his parental time and enforce the divorce decree.

An initial appearance in Elias’ felony case is scheduled for Friday. She remains in Salt Lake County jail without the option to post bond.