Five people were shot — three of them fatally, including an infant — at an annual carnival outside Salt Lake City Sunday night, authorities said.
West Valley City, Utah police said officers at the WestFest noticed two groups of people having a “verbal altercation” and, as they moved in to break it up, “a 16-year-old male from one of the groups pulled out a gun and fired.”
Five people were wounded, police said: an 18-year-old male from one of the groups, who was killed, along with a 41-year-old female bystander and an eight-month-old infant.
In addition, police reported, a 17-year-old female and 15-year-old male were hit in the arm. It wasn’t clear whether they were connected to the groups involved.
The 16-year-old male suspect is in custody and was taken to the police station for questioning.
A pregnant woman was also injured while trying to climb a fence to flee the scene, CBS Salt Lake City affiliate KUTV reported.
The station quotes West Valley City police spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku as saying it’s difficult for the community to experience a tragedy during an event meant to celebrate West Valley City.
“It’s heartbreaking, I think for all of us, to see something like this happen at something that is just a real treasure, something that we really enjoy in our community,” she said.
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