SALT LAKE CITY — A suspect has been arrested after two people were shot and wounded at a Salt Lake City soccer field Monday evening.
Police said the suspect, 32-year-old Steven Mathew Macias, rode a bicycle to the field at 17th South River Park around 7:30 p.m.
Macias allegedly fired multiple shots from a rifle into a white pickup truck parked in the parking lot, striking a 65-year-old man at least once. The victim got out of the truck and ran from the scene.
Police say Maciaas then turned and began firing into the crowd on the soccer field, hitting a 21-year-old man. This second victim was in critical condition as of Tuesday night, but stable.
"This is not normal for this to happen in this park or any park," said Det. Ben Nielsen with the Salt Lake City Police Department. "Our officers and our detectives worked late, stayed late past their shift to come to a resolution, and that's why we were able to make an arrest on this, and we do believe we have arrested the shooter"
The suspect rode away on the bike after the shooting before getting into a vehicle and fleeing the area. Police say there were about 30 people on or around the field when the shots were fired.
The 65-year-old victim ran about 150 yards south of the parking lot and collapsed in some vegetation, SLCPD said in an update Tuesday night. He was found a couple of hours later around 10 p.m. with the help of a K-9 unit.
He was treated by first responders, then taken to the hospital in serious condition.
"Officers had earlier searched the immediate area of the park and neighborhood looking for any other additional victims," Salt Lake City Police said in an email to FOX 13 News, "But did not locate any nor did they see any signs pointing to someone that far from the scene."
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said the motive for the shooting is still unknown, but that both victims are recovering.
Macias was booked on seven counts of felony discharge of a firearm, along with four counts of aggravated assault.
Nancy Halden, the communications director with Utah Gun Violence Prevention, believes shootings like the one in Salt Lake City often leave more questions than answers.
"It's a shooting where somebody just pulled up to a park and opened fire, you want to ask questions like where did that gun come from, was there a legal background check, was that gun stolen?" she said.
At least one car in the area was shot and damaged.
Halden says the goal is to find ways to lower gun violence in communities and neighborhoods.
"Gun violence is not a single problem and it is not going to have a single solution," she said. "I wish there were one easy thing we could do to solve gun violence, but it is a lot of different problems and you have to look at how to address each of those problems."
