MIDVALE, Utah — A 16-year-old teenage boy died following a gang-related shooting in Midvale late Thursday night, and police say they are still trying to track down the suspects who were involved.
The shooting happened in the area of 648 West Wasatch Street.
Officers with the Unified Police Department said there are multiple suspects, and two vehicles drove away from the scene after the shooting. However, they said they don’t know how exactly the suspects left the area, and they are looking for answers.
“We also have reports of people walking away from the scene and running away from the scene, so we’re hoping that somebody out there’s got some video... [or] was there and saw exactly what happened, maybe who did it, at least," said UPD Sgt. Melody Cutler. "Did the gunfire come from a car? Did it come from people on foot? Did they run and get in cars? We’re not 100% sure, and so we’re hoping that someone was in the area and can help us."
The teen was taken to the hospital in "very critical condition" immediately after the shooting before he died Friday morning.
“We did have officers here at the precinct who heard the gunfire, so they were on scene very quickly and able to initially start rendering aid to this 16-year-old boy until the fire department arrived,” added Sgt Cutler.
Detectives still don’t have many leads or any suspects, but they said this was a gang-related murder.
Despite no suspects in custody yet, police said there is no danger to the public.
"We do not believe there is a threat to the public at this time — we believe it is more of a targeted [shooting]," explained UPD Detective Arlan Bennett.
Little information was available about what led up to the shooting. The identity of the victim has not been released.
Investigators interviewed witnesses and neighbors in the area of the shooting Thursday night in an attempt to gather more information about what may have happened.
FOX 13 News also spoke to neighbors in the area — some heard the gunshots, others saw the road closures and said it was a pretty scary scene right across from their homes. None of them wanted to be on camera, but they said they haven’t seen much crime like this in their neighborhood and the whole situation is just heartbreaking.
Police said the teen was walking around with friends when he was shot, but no one else was injured. UPD added that they are still looking for witnesses or anyone who has video of what happened.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call UPD at 801-840-4000.
