Jordan Miller
Paighten HarkinsOne man was killed and two others were injured Monday morning in a shooting outside a church in Kearns.
Police were asked by funeral attendees to be present at the service, which took place at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building at 4660 W. 5015 South, Unified Police Department Assistant Chief Justin Hoyal said in a news conference.
Around 11:25 a.m., officers present in the area heard gunshots and found one man in the road with “critical injuries.” He was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead, Hoyal said.
While officers were attending to the man in the road, they saw people carrying another injured man to a car nearby, Hoyal said. When the officers told the people to stop, they drove away.
Police were able to stop the vehicle near 4700 South and 4000 West. They found a second gunshot victim with critical injuries in the car and he was taken to a nearby hospital, Hoyal said.
Authorities also found a third gunshot victim at the church who had critical injuries. He also was taken to the hospital, Hoyal said.
Police are still working to identify a suspect, but Hoyal said officers believe they are in contact with everyone involved.
“We didn’t know what the problem would be. We get calls all the time that there could be a problem, and we respond, be visible,” Hoyal said. “A lot of times, fortunately, things don’t happen. Unfortunately, in this situation, we had this tragedy that took place here behind us.”
The investigation is ongoing.
Schools, Intermountain Medical Center impacted
Three nearby schools — Kearns Junior High School, West Kearns Elementary and David Gourley Elementary — were placed under secure protocols following the shooting, but they were lifted at around 12:15 p.m.
A large police presence was visible at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Monday afternoon, but spokesperson Jess Gomez said there had been “no incidents” on the campus and the response was “precautionary.”
He could not specify why police were present at the medical center and referred further questions to Unified Police.
Everyone at the hospital was safe, Gomez added.
Incoming emergency patients have been diverted to other hospitals. Police presence and restricted access to the medical center would likely continue through the evening, Gomez said, and patients with appointments had been contacted and told not to come in.
The shooting marked the second time this year that gunfire rang out at a Salt Lake Valley funeral. In January, two were killed and several others were wounded in a shooting outside a funeral service at a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Salt Lake City.
“We believe this is an isolated situation that took place here, and don’t believe that it’s a bigger problem,” Hoyal said Monday.
Jordan is a breaking news reporter at The Tribune. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma and has written for the Houston Chronicle along with the Enid News & Eagle. When she's not reporting, she loves watching football, reading books and painting.
Paighten is an Enterprise reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune. She covers a variety of topics, including business, health, growth and the legal justice system — sometimes all at once. She is from southern Oklahoma, and lived and worked in the state, most recently at the Tulsa World, before starting at The Tribune in October 2017.