SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Three young men suffered fatal wounds in a shooting in South Salt Lake in February, and while the fourth individual injured in the incident has been charged with murder, he is claiming he acted in self-defense.
The shooting occurred on Park Creeke Lane on February 18, and two brothers and their friend were found in a vehicle with gunshot wounds. One was pronounced dead at the scene while the other two died due to their wounds later that same week.
A fourth individual, 19-year-old Gerald Radcliff Grant, turned up several hours later at a hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg. He was identified via a Florida Driver’s Learners permit.
Grant was eventually charged with murder in the shootings, but according to an affidavit and a search warrant released Friday, Grant says he pulled out a gun because the other three individuals attempted to rob him.
The court records indicate witnesses in the area of the shooting reported seeing Grant leave the vehicle after the gunfire, and that he was limping and fell down a snow bank before making a phone call and getting into a car that came to his location.
Police observed marijuana and a firearm in the vehicle, as well as the odor of marijuana. A handgun and a pair of brass knuckles were also found, along with various items of drug paraphernalia.
One of the men who came to pick Grant up at the scene of the shooting spoke with officers who responded to the hospital where Grant was taken. That man told police he received a call from Grant requesting help and that Grant told him the other males tried to rob him and started to beat him up while inside the vehicle.
That man reported Grant said he pulled out his gun in self-defense and shot the males who were trying to rob him.
