Gunman arrested in deadly shooting outside Salt Palace Convention Center

SALT LAKE CITY — A third individual has been arrested in connection to a deadly shooting outside the Salt Palace Convention Center over the weekend.

Officials with the Salt Lake City Police Department announced Tuesday afternoon that 18-year-old Nogolweit “Nunu” Kug had been taken into custody after he arrived at the Public Safety Building in downtown to surrender.

Police said Kug — who is believed to be the person who shot and killed 41-year-old Deliford Knight — will be booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail for investigation of murder and aggravated robbery.

Today, members of the SLCPD SWAT Team safely arrested 18-year-old Nogolweit "Nunu" Kug after he arrived at the Public Safety Building in downtown to surrender.

This marks the third arrest in this case.

Link: https://t.co/lMVBk7s2Qo#SLC #SLCPD #SaltLakeCity pic.twitter.com/u0p9ZeIEPG

— Salt Lake City Police (@slcpd) September 7, 2022

Two other individuals have already been arrested in the case — 21-year-old Joshua Riak and 22-year-old Deng Buk.

“Our homicide detectives have dedicated more than 100 hours to this case,” said SLCPD Chief Mike Brown. “Although we have made these three key arrests, our investigation is still very much ongoing. Because of the commitment of our homicide detectives, patrol officers and specialty units, we now have a better understanding of what unfolded on Saturday afternoon. I want to reassure everyone who lives in, works in and visit Salt Lake City that our police department is unwavering in our mission to help keep our community safe.”

The deadly incident occurred near 150 S. West Temple Street at approximately 3:19 p.m. Saturday.

Police said Knight and his friends flew to Salt Lake City from Florida to attend a sneaker convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

“According to information provided to detectives, Knight and his friends have traveled to similar conventions in different states where they engaged in betting matches to defraud people out of money,” read a Tuesday afternoon press release from the Salt Lake City Police Department.

One of the suspects allegedly lost money to Knight and became angry.

The three men then followed Knight out onto West Temple and began fighting with him.

“At some point, Kug, while in the presence of Buk and Riak, took out a gun and shot Knight. It is further alleged, after the shooting, Kug and another suspect took items out of Knight’s pockets, including a cell phone and cash,” the release stated.

During their investigation, detectives learned Kug may have been planning to leave the state.