Jose Davila IVThe Monday morning shooting that caused chaos outside a suburban Latter-day Saint church, forced lockdowns at nearby schools and ended in a police chase more than a mile away started with a fight.
Investigators say the altercation that led to the gunfire happened outside a funeral being held at a meetinghouse at 4066 W. 5015 South in Kearns. The altercation was part of an ongoing dispute between two families.
Vilisoni Angilau, 18, was killed. Two others, including a teenager suspected of shooting Angilau, were critically injured.
Police have not shared any details about the funeral, but a flyer posted to Facebook said a service for Ofa’tangikivaha Angilau was scheduled for the Kearns meetinghouse at the time of Monday’s shooting. He was killed in an Aug. 7 shooting at a Riverton gas station.
Officers arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of murder and discharging a deadly weapon after investigators say he handed a gun to his 17-year-old son, who then fired it during the fight. Police do not say the father fired the gun.
The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name people who are arrested until they are formally charged with a crime.
While the witness accounts differed slightly, they consistently identified the man and his teenage son as being involved in the fight outside the funeral.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Police investigate a shooting that occurred outside a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kearns, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026.
After the father handed his son a gun, investigators say the 17-year-old fired it and hit a man he was fighting. Angilau then rushed the son, took the gun, fired it and struck the teenager, a witness told investigators.
That’s when police say the father tackled Angilau, whom police say his son also shot.
When officers arrived, they found Angilau lying in the street. As they they tended to him, the father and son fled the scene.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Police investigate a shooting that occurred outside a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kearns, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026.
Police pulled their car over and took the father into custody. The 17-year-old was hospitalized and is considered a suspect by police.
Hours later, Unified Police Department Assistant Chief Justin Hoyal said officers had been notified ahead of the funeral about the potential for problems, and were nearby when the shooting unfolded.
The gunfire forced lockdowns at West Kearns Elementary School, David Gourley Elementary and Kearns Junior High School.
Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, where all three shooting victims were taken, experienced a heavy police response, forcing patients to divert to other hospitals and cancel appointments.
The father is being held without bail.
