Police investigating overnight carjacking, shooting in West Valley City
Oct 10, 2021, 9:45 AM | Updated: 5:21 pm
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Police said they’re searching for a group of teens involved in a late-night carjacking that led to a shootout in a West Valley neighborhood.
The incident happened near 2500 South Lake Park Circle around 2:15 a.m. Sunday.
Investigators believe one of the teens was injured by the gunfire, but nobody has come forward.
“Officers found on the sidewalk one or two blood drops, so the assumption is that one person, who was part of the group that stole the vehicles, might have been injured by the gunfire,” said Lt. Sean McCarthy with the West Valley City Police Department.
Investigators said a group of teens picked a fight with another teen standing near his car at the end of the cul-de-sac.
Words were exchanged, and at some point, police said the group stole the other teen’s car.
The victim of the car theft then started firing a handgun at the teens, who made a getaway with his vehicle.
Police said this is a difficult case because they only have one side of the story.
“When and if we find the other people involved, they could tell us a completely different story. Until then, we are looking at it from a wide spectrum to try to determine what happened,” said McCarthy. “Hopefully if and when we do find the others involved, we can figure out what actually occurred.”
Neighbors said some strange things have happened in the neighborhood and sometimes teens get into trouble. Still, they haven’t seen anything like this.
“There have been accidents around here that has us thinking, ‘Okay, maybe we should move,’” said Jasmine Gomez, a resident in the neighborhood.
Investigators said it’s concerning that the shooter recklessly fired several shots in a densely populated neighborhood.
The shooter and the car thieves could both face charges.
Police aren’t releasing names because the suspects involved are minors.
