West Jordan Neighborhood Reeling After Suspect Breaks Into Homes, Gets Into Shootout

WEST JORDAN, Utah — Residents of a West Jordan neighborhood were reeling after an intruder broke into two homes, terrorized unsuspecting families and got into a shootout with police.

Police originally suspected the suspect, identified as 20-year-old Cesar Eduardo Aguilar, picked the neighborhood randomly before they realized he was fleeing from another crime Friday morning.

“I just said, ‘Don’t answer it,’ but they answered it, and he just shoved his way in,” said Lynzee Coombs.

Before she knew it, Coombs said Aguilar pushed past her young children and into her home.

“He was just, ‘Please help me, please help me,’ and just looked like he wasn’t all there,” Coombs said.

Then Coombs said the man started pacing and made his way toward the kitchen. Coombs said he was behaving increasingly more erratically.

“I just kept screaming at him to get out of my home,” Coombs said. “I thought the louder I scream, maybe there will be a neighbor outside that will hear and come help.”

But Coombs knew she had to do something.

“I freaked out and yelled and grabbed his arm and kind of yanked him and told him not to come — he needed to get out of my house,” she said.

The man ran off, but police said he broke into the next-door neighbor’s house.

“The roommate lives on the bottom,” Coombs said. “He was still here when the gunmen entered the home.”

According to arresting documents, the neighbor escaped through a basement window, and when “he heard the gunshots, the whole house shook.”

Police said Aguilar barricaded himself inside the home located near 6900 South Decora Way.

“Then I heard the gunshots going off,” Coombs said. “About 20 before I left with the kids.”

Neighbors said the suspect opened fire from a second-story window, shooting at random and at arriving officers.

“He got off several rounds from that room,” Coombs said.

Across the street, Alida Barlow and her husband were in the living room with their four children, including their toddler, Derek.

“He was kind of fussing, so I picked him up to move him when something went between us,” Barlow said.

"A big bullet!" Toddler shares where a bullet entered his house, narrowly missing his family. This after a stranger broke into his neighbor's home and opened fire. Derek and neighbors share their story coming up at 9:30 on @KSL5TV. pic.twitter.com/3VtY8B8UJi

— Garna Mejia KSL (@GarnaMejiaKSL) July 26, 2021

A stray bullet ricocheted off the grass and into the living room, barely missing three of the children, including Derek.

“I had just picked him up to move him, or it would’ve been a shoulder arm shot for him,” Barlow said.

As police closed in on the stranger, who eventually turned himself in.

Before the shootout, police suspect Aguilar stabbed his friend 15 to 18 times. That incident happened inside a car on Ticklegrass Road, about a block south of the Decora Way neighborhood.

“We’re glad nobody was hurt. It could’ve been so much worse,” Coombs said.

According to arresting documents, police found Aguilar was carrying a bloody knife described as “a 9-inch double edge dagger with electrical tape around the handle, appeared to have a dried red substance.”

During an interview with detectives, Aguilar allegedly admitted he consumed a large amount of methamphetamine and heroin.

Aguilar was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of multiple felony charges, including criminal homicide, assaulting an officer and possession of drug paraphernalia.