Man arrested for fatally shooting another man after his gun accidently went off, police say
Aug 9, 2024, 9:12 PM
A Salt Lake City crime lab SUV at the scene of a homicide investigation in a Glendale neighborhood. on Aug. 5, 2024. (Salt Lake City Police Department)
(Salt Lake City Police Department)
SALT LAKE CITY — An accidental discharge of a firearm resulted in a man shooting his gun at another man multiple times, killing him inside a Glendale apartment, police say.
Jima Gat, 31, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on felony charges of murder and obstruction of justice, according to the police affidavit.
On Monday night, Salt Lake City police received a call of an unknown problem at an apartment complex at 1600 W. Snow Queen Place. When police arrived, officers reported finding a dead man with multiple gunshot wounds on the floor of an apartment.
“The apartment tenant was away when she received a phone call from her brother informing her there was a ‘dead man’ in her apartment,” the affidavit stated.
A witness, who was detained by officers at the scene, told officers he was inside the apartment when the shooting happened. He said he was drinking with three other men, one of which was later identified as Gat.
The witness told police that the victim pulled out a handgun to show it off to the other men. He said the victim removed the magazine, believing it was empty, and passed it around for the other men to hold.
“The witness stated the (victim) placed the magazine back into the handgun, then pounded the gun down onto the table when the handgun accidentally discharged,” according to the affidavit. The discharged round struck Gat’s older brother in the hand.
The witness said Gat became angry, grabbed the handgun from the victim, and shot him several times. After the shooting, the witness grabbed a sleeping family member, and everyone fled the apartment.
According to police, the witness saw Gat running out of the apartment and tossing the handgun into a canal near 1700 South.
The witness told police he returned to the apartment since they had left another sleeping man there. When the witness arrived, his sister had returned to the apartment in her car. The witness said his family, Gat and Gat’s brother, got into his sister’s car and drove to another family member’s home in Rose Park.
“The witness said that during the drive to the apartment, he told Jima Gat that the (victim) had accidentally shot his brother, and he did not need to shoot him for that,” according to the affidavit. “The witness stated Jima Gat responded saying, ‘I (expletive) up.'”
Police arrived at the Rose Park apartment with a search warrant to find Gat and other witnesses.
The affidavit stated they did not find Gat or his brother but found blood droplets on the apartment floor, bathroom sink, and shoes, which aligned with what the witness told police about Gat’s brother’s injuries.
A second witness told police he was woken up by the first witness and was told they needed to leave the apartment. He said he saw the victim’s body on the floor as he was running out.
The second witness said he got into the car with the first witness, Gat, and Gat’s brother, whose hand was bleeding. He said he did not hear about Gat shooting the victim.
On Wednesday, police officers found Gat and transported him to be interviewed about the shooting. While in police custody, Gat told officers he did not know the witnesses or the victim and requested a lawyer.
According to the affidavit, SLCPD searched for the handgun in the canal but were not able to find it.
The affidavit stated that Gat was homeless and could be a danger to multiple witnesses if he was released from police custody.
