Alleged gunman in Orem apartment shooting is charged with attempted murder
Dec 6, 2022, 10:12 AM | Updated: May 21, 2023, 4:30 pm
Some residents of an Orem student apartment complex ran for their lives after shots were fired on the third floor on Nov. 19. A South Jordan man accused of shooting two people there was arrested Wednesday. (Redstone Residential and Axis Luxury Living)
(Redstone Residential and Axis Luxury Living)
OREM, Utah — A man who witnesses say was kicked out of a party happening at an Orem apartment complex has been charged with shooting at two people who tried to confront him, according to police.
Jozef Richard Van-Der-Meide, 18, of South Jordan, was charged Monday in 4th District Court with two counts of attempted murder, a first-degree felony.
On Nov. 19, Orem police were called to the Axis Apartments, 1435 W. 800 South, where one man was shot in the abdomen and a second man — who works security for the complex — had a large bruise on his leg, according to a police booking affidavit.
Witnesses told police that Van-Der-Meide was attending a party in one of the apartments when he was allegedly spotted kissing a woman in an unwanted manner, charging documents state. Van-Der-Meide was kicked out of the party.
“When the male was out of the apartment, there was a confrontation and that’s when the shooting occurred,” the charges state.
Security cameras recorded the confrontation. According to police, Van-Der-Meide fled the party on the sixth floor and took the stairwell to the third floor. He was followed by two people, a police booking affidavit states.
“Many individuals can be seen entering behind and appear to be wanting to watch the verbal altercation. It is evident that yelling is still going on between (Van-Der-Meide) and the group that entered the floor,” the affidavit states.
As Van-Der-Meide goes around a corner and is backing away, he pulls a gun out of his backpack in the video and points it at the first man who is about 6 feet to 10 feet away, police wrote in the arrest report.
“(Van-Der-Meide) then lowers the gun and appears to chamber a round before firing toward (the first man). (The second man) is seen standing behind (the first) when the shooting begins and drops to the ground before running into another room. A large glass window is seen shattering behind them as they try to flee,” according to the affidavit.
The security guard was able to avoid serious injury when the bullet struck the phone in his pocket and did not penetrate his body, the charges state.
On Nov. 22, police found the gun allegedly used in the shooting buried near a Utah Transit Authority FrontRunner station in Orem.
On Nov. 29, Van-Der-Meide contacted police and turned himself him.
