Two people dead in a workplace shooting, Salt Lake City police say

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City police said two people died in a workplace shooting Sunday afternoon.

The incident occurred at Varex Imaging in the area of 1678 S. Pioneer Road around 2:30 p.m.

“Salt Lake City 911 received information about a person with a weapon here at the business located behind me,” SLCPD spokesperson Brent Weisberg said. “Our officers, by the time they had arrived, had understand that there was a shooting that took place here.”

We are investigating a workplace shooting at 1678 South Pioneer Road.

Two people have died.

This was not an active shooter situation.

There is no outstanding suspect or threat to our community.

Media staging is at 1700 South and 2700 West.#SLC #SLCPD #SaltLakeCity pic.twitter.com/0baHaK8Kcu

— Salt Lake City Police (@slcpd) March 3, 2024

Varex Imaging leadership told KSL the company’s headquarters, where the shooting happened, was open and operating Sunday. They said about 50 employees were working when shots were fired.

“One of the victims was found outside and the other was found inside,” Weisberg said. “The person who was found outside, our officers located a firearm near that individual.”

The company’s Chief Financial Officer Sam Maheshwari sent a statement Sunday night:

“It is with deep and profound sadness I inform you that there was a shooting at our Salt Lake City site today, and two Varex employees passed away.  While we know that the shooter is deceased, we cannot share any additional information about the incident at this time. Our condolences and heartfelt support are with the impacted families.  We will have onsite counseling at our SLC site throughout the week to support employees and their families – as well as 24/7 access to Employee Assistance Program. The safety of our employees is paramount, and the facility has been evaluated and secured by the Salt Lake City Police Department.”

Police there is no threat to the community and they are not looking for a suspect.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown issued a statement on X on Sunday afternoon.

The psychological trauma experienced by witnesses of workplace violence can have a very significant and lasting impact. Our victim advocates will be available to help any of the employees impacted by this shooting as our detectives are work to determine a motive.

Police did not disclose the identities of the two victims. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call SLCPD at 801-799-3000.

 “Our plea right now is for anyone who works at this particular location or who knows the individuals who may have been involved in this situation to come forward to help our detectives trying to piece everything together,” Weisberg said. “We are working right now trying to determine the motive.”

Varex leadership said they’re waiting for police to finish their work on scene. They told KSL they’re expecting to be back open and in business as soon as Monday.

Weisberg said workplace violence is uncommon in Salt Lake City. He said he couldn’t a recall an incident like this one in the last few years that the department responded to.

“If anyone is concerned about workplace violence, we absolutely want to know about it,” he said. “It may not be a criminal element right there, it may not rise to a criminal level, but we can at least get involved and help work with solutions to try to help the employee and the employer.”