Two people were killed and six were injured in a shooting outside a Salt Lake City church where a funeral reception was held Wednesday night, according to Salt Lake City police.
Of the six injured, three are in critical condition, Salt Lake City Police Department spokesperson Glen Mills said. The condition of the three others was not known because they were taken to hospitals in private vehicles, he said.
The initial call came in around 7:30 p.m., Mills said. There was no suspect in custody as of 9:30 p.m.
The shooting occurred at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse at 660 N. Redwood Road. Redwood Road remains closed in the vicinity of the church, with police urging people to stay away from the area.
The two wards that meet at the church are Tongan, according to the meetinghouse website. Susi Feltch-Malohifo’ou, CEO of one of Utah’s largest Pacific Islander organizations — Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources — said her phone has been flooded with messages about the shooting.
She knows several of the individuals who were shot, she said, but she was unsure of their conditions. Many members of the Pacific Islander and Latter-day Saint communities in the area were attending a funeral reception for an individual, Feltch-Malohifo’ou said, when the shooting occurred outside the church, which serves mainly Tongan congregants.
More in the article.