KEARNS, Utah -- A teen walking along 6200 South in Kearns was the victim of a drive-by shooting Sunday shortly before noon.
Police expect him to survive, but they are still searching for the suspects.
Neighbors told Fox 13 6200 South is a busy road, and they often hear crashing noises from car accidents, but they never hear gunshots.
One nearby resident who went only by her first name, Keli, said she heard the shots while she was inside cleaning her house. She said she immediately told her grandson to get down.
“I came to the door and we seen a car and it was like taking off and then I just heard screaming," she said.
Lt. Brian Lohrke with the Unified Police Department said a suspect got out of the car and, "fired four to five rounds at a group of juveniles that was west on 6200 South.”
Keli said after the car took off, she took action.
"So I ran to the corner and there was a young kid that was surrounded by a whole bunch of people in the middle of the street," she said.
She called to her grandson to bring towels from her house, which she used to apply pressure on the 17-year-old's bullet wound in his leg. She said she also spoke with him and the friends he was with to try to keep everyone calm until help arrived.
“It just happened so fast and in this neighborhood, it’s not something that happens," she said. "I’ve lived here for over two years and it’s been a really good neighborhood."
Lohrke said police have responded to a couple of drive-by shootings in Kearns in just a week's time.
“It’s always been in Magna or you know miles from here, but this was like right on the corner of where I live. So it’s kinda scary," Keli said.
Both times included witness accounts of those involved wearing red and blue, leading police to believe both incidents - while perhaps not related to each other - are gang-related.
"It seems to be escalating activity amongst the gangs here," Lohrke said.
Keli said the kids she saw, however, were not wearing anything suspicious or even those colors. She specifically recalled one girl wearing black Levi jeans and the victim wearing black shorts and black shoes, not blue or red.
“They just seemed like normal teenagers walking down the street," she said, adding they told her they were on their way to get lunch.
Unified Police Department has their violent crimes and gangs units working on the investigation. After taking a handful of witness accounts, police determined they are looking for a tan Chevrolet Impala with a temporary tag in the rear window. Lohrke said they believe that is the car two suspects drove off in after the incident.
