Two Suspects Arrested After Drive-By Shooting In South Jordan
Nov 23, 2020, 11:58 PM
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah – Two suspects were in custody and a family was left shaken but uninjured Monday after what South Jordan police describe as a drive-by shooting motivated by a dispute over a boy.
“Knowing that a girl would come shoot at my family and try to harm or kill my children over a boy–over something so silly—is really troubling,” said Natalie Giraldo. “It’s very troubling.”
From a distance, it’s difficult to see just how close the danger was to Giraldo’s family over the weekend. The whole house was asleep at around 3 a.m. Saturday when a loud noise shook her 12-year-old son awake.
Around the same time, her daughter got a call from a friend, warning her that someone was coming to shoot at their home.
That’s when Giraldo realized, “that noise was a gunshot.”
A single bullet left a perfect circle just outside the room her son.
“His head is right on the other side of where this bullet is,” she said.
From the inside of the home, you can see the boy’s bed positioned against the wall and a patch that covers a hole where police removed the bullet. It’s the same level as her son’s pillow.
“It’s a miracle that he’s alive,” Giraldo said. “We’re really thankful for that. It’s a good time to be thankful.”
Giraldo was also thankful for the boy who attempted to warn her 17-year-old daughter about the shooting. Police said he was in the car with the suspects but left when he learned they were planning to drive by Giraldo’s home with a gun.
“That’s an amazing person that doesn’t want a part of that and that has the courage to call and say, ‘hey watch out,’” she said.
“Fortunately [his] conscience got to them and they didn’t want to be a part of it,” said Lt. Matt Pennington with the South Jordan Police Department.
“It is unusual for South Jordan. We’re not immune to problems obviously but we don’t get a lot of drive-by shootings,” he said.
Pennington said the suspects drove as far south as Cedar City before they reportedly crashed their car. And with the help of other agencies, on Saturday South Jordan police arrested an 18-year-old man who they said pulled the trigger.
The next day, officers arrested a 17-year-old girl who they say was the driver and instigator.
“How are we helping these kids? Why is this happening? She had a gun,” Giraldo said.
Her daughter knows the girl and says she drove by their home with a gun because of a dispute over a boy.
“There’s a problem. There’s a big problem. And it almost killed my family. My child,” she said.
Officers also questioned and released two other individuals who were in the car. Charges for the two arrested include felony discharge of a weapon, criminal mischief and obstruction of justice.
