West Valley City • Billy Reyes has lived in West Valley City for 16 years. He and his family have been coming to the city’s summer festival, WestFest, for about a decade.

Usually, the Reyes family comes to the celebration on Friday or Saturday night, when it’s busiest. But this year they opted to show up at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, the first day of the carnival at Centennial Park, after a shooting police described as gang-related killed three people on the last night of the event a year ago.

“That’s why we came the very first day and really early,” Reyes said. “We’re trying to leave early too, because it’s very worrisome, actually.”

Then-16-year-old Matthiaz Cantre Lauti Ioane-Register allegedly shot and killed three people on June 15 last year: Hassan Lugundi, 18; Anderson Garcia Cabrera Jr., 8 months; and Fnu Reena, 41. Reena was eight weeks pregnant.

The Salt Lake Tribune typically does not name underage suspects unless they are charged as adults.

The festival is an annual celebration of the diversity of Utah’s second-largest city and commemorates the city’s 1980 incorporation. It includes a parade, musical and dance performances, and a carnival, where the shooting happened last June. Activities generally happen within the footprint of Centennial Park, at 5600 West and 3100 South.

Event organizers have made some changes to this year’s WestFest with an eye toward more safety.

The shooting unfolded right in front of carnival rides. According to charging documents in Ioane-Register’s case, the teen belonged to a gang that was feuding with another gang that included friends of Lugundi. After Ioane-Register had fired multiple shots, a police officer fired one round toward him, but missed. Soon thereafter, that officer and another wrestled the teen to the ground.

“Last year’s tragedy at WestFest had real impact. We understand why some may have concerns, and we have taken meaningful action to address those concerns throughout the planning of this year’s event,” city spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku said in a statement. “What happened was a targeted and highly unusual act of violence, not representative of what WestFest has traditionally meant to this community.”

A schedule shake-up is the biggest change for festivalgoers: The event is set to run from Wednesday through Saturday, instead of the usual Thursday through Sunday. The carnival will close at 10 p.m. each night this year instead of the typical 11 p.m.

The musical performances and vendor tabling started on Thursday this year. Reyes and his family usually went to check those out, too, but they are not planning to come back to see them this year.

Vainuku said the city boosted safety planning and coordination ahead of the event, provided additional training to those working the festival and was “implementing proactive measures to identify and address concerning behavior.” The city did not provide additional details on what those measures were, exactly, nor did a spokesperson reply to a question about how many people the city expected to attend the festival.

A Facebook post on the West Valley City government account also said officials were continuing to review and refine safety procedures.

On Wednesday evening, the festival kicked off with carnival rides spinning and pickleballers competing in a tournament in the park. About a dozen West Valley City police officers were present early in the day. A mix of families and high schoolers enjoyed the rides and carnival food under the hot late-afternoon sun.

West Valley City residents Isabel Fernandez and Lyssa Sanchez came early to enjoy the Tilt-a-Whirl and other attractions.

Fernandez had never been to the festival before Wednesday, but had been thinking about coming for the past couple of years. She was a little concerned about safety.

“It is kind of scary,” Fernandez said, “because you never know what people’s intentions are, of course.”

Sanchez, who last attended the celebration about a decade ago, said shootings could happen anywhere and that she wasn’t going to let that deter her.

“The likelihood of something like that happening is likely as it is anywhere,” she said. “It’s happening in malls, movie theaters, everywhere. “I’m not going to let it run my life.”

Both women said they wanted to come back later in the weekend to see the performances. As for Ioane-Register, a preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled for November.