TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — Police are investigating and searching for a suspect after two individuals were found shot to death in Taylorsville late Monday night.
Officials received a call reporting shots fired and a traffic accident just before 11:30 p.m. Monday at the Atherton Park Apartments located at 4545 S. Atherton Drive.
When police arrived at the scene, they found a Honda Civic that had crashed into a snowbank with the driver dead inside due to a gunshot wound, and a passenger who later died despite life-saving efforts.
The male driver had sustained a gunshot wound to his head, while the passenger was shot in the chest. Officials are awaiting results from an autopsy to determine if the passenger was a man or a woman, police said in a press release.
The identities of the two victims are still being determined and will not be released to the public until family members are notified of the deaths.
Officials are still searching for a suspect in the case, after determining a person in a gray sweatshirt who was seen leaving the scene was just a passerby.
A handgun was found in a neighboring mobile home park and police are investigating if it was used in the shooting. In addition, two other handguns were found in the victims' vehicle, but police say the gunfire did not come from inside.
Detectives are speaking with witnesses to understand what happened and led to the fatal shooting. It's not believed the people inside the car lived in the area and it's not known why there were there.
"[These cases] are tough for detectives because there's really not a whole lot of information for them to work off, initially, other than we have a vehicle, we have a couple occupants," explained Sgt. Jake Hill with the Taylorsville Police Department. "We don't know why they were there, what they were doing."
Hill added that Taylorsville police get more calls to the area where the shooting took place than other locations in the city.
Police are asking that anyone with photos or videos at the scene, or any pertinent information, to contact Taylorsville Police at 801-840-4000, and reference case #23-3236.
