Man injured in shooting inside Valley Fair Mall; three in custody

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Three teens are in custody after a 25-year-old man was injured in a shooting Monday inside Valley Fair Mall.

According to the West Valley City Police Department, the injury, which was to the hip area, is non-life-threatening and the victim is currently being treated at the hospital.

“Investigators are working to determine what happened, but believe this was an isolated incident,” read a 5:56 p.m. tweet from West Valley City police.

Investigators are working to determine what happened, but believe this was an isolated incident.
Investigators have a small area north of center court contained for crime scene processing, but the rest of the mall is expected to continue operating as usual this evening. (2/2)

— WVC Police (@WVCPD) May 8, 2023

According to Lt. Steve Burke with the West Valley City Police Department, the incident was captured on video, which detectives are reviewing.

He said the three teen suspects were found and detained at a nearby TRAX platform within approximately 20 minutes of the shooting.

“We had a pretty distinct description of what one of the suspect’s was wearing, so as soon as they contacted them, they were pretty sure that that was our guys,” Burke said.

A firearm was also recovered near the Petco.

As of 6:38 p.m., Burke said the area that was contained for crime scene processing has since been released back to the mall.

He said many businesses closed early following the shooting.

“People are nervous, and rightfully so, I think,” Burke said.

Mall customer Richard O’Thorup said he when he ordered dinner from Cupbob, which is near the mall entrance, they told him they were locking down the restaurant.

“They said, ‘For your safety, we’d like you to stay in. We’re going to lock the doors,'” he said.

Police said the shooting happened inside of the mall, not far from the center court, located at the main entrance on the west side of the building.

“We have to be careful,” O’Thorup said. “We don’t know who is there and what their plans are.”

Lots of shops decided to close early after today’s shooting. Police said a lot of them are nervous.
We now know more about the victim, and where the suspects were found.

New info at 10 @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/XgCFTODy03

— Shelby Lofton (@newswithShelby) May 9, 2023

Burke urged the public to call somebody or say something if you happen to see anything suspicious.

“If you hear gunshots or you hear something that sounds like a gunshot, find shelter. Get out. Find shelter. We definitely don’t want more victims than we already had. I think we’re really lucky we only had one victim today.”

He said the last time there was a similar law enforcement response at the property, it was a false alarm.

“It’s absolutely terrifying,” Burke said. “This is only the second incident where we’ve had what sounded like gunshots inside the mall. The last incident ended up being someone tipping over the sign and it scared the heck out of everybody that was in the mall.”