SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — Over the summer, we covered a shooting by Glenmoor baseball field in South Jordan that left one man dead. It’s been 9 months, and his family says they still don’t know what exactly happened.
"It was devastating news that no family wants to hear,” said Bryan Gutierrez. His brother, Marcelo Gutierrez, was the one who was killed.
In June of last year, South Jordan police said they got a call about a suspicious person looking through car windows. They tried to de-escalate the situation when he pointed a knife at officers. When Marcelo didn’t cooperate, they shot him, and he died.
His family just wants to know what exactly led up to the shooting and said they’ve been left in the dark.
"We don’t know why South Jordan police decided it was the best idea to put holes through my loved one,” said Gutierrez. "My brother had schizophrenia. He was not in the right mind set.”
Police say they tried to arrest Marcelo, but when he didn’t cooperate, the situation escalated and they shot him. "What you know is as much as we know. That’s kind of why I’m here - we want answers,” said Gutierrez.
We did reach out to South Jordan police and they shared a statement with us:
“The City of South Jordan remains committed to transparency regarding the Officer Involved Critical Incident involving South Jordan Police Officers that occurred in June 2024. The investigation by the West Jordan lead Protocol Team concluded in August and was turned over to the Salt Lake County District Attorney for review. At this time, the City and family continue to await the conclusion of the District Attorney’s review and investigation. As per established protocol and Utah statute, records including body-worn camera footage may not be released until the District Attorney makes a determination regarding the legality of the use of force.”
The Salt Lake County District Attorney's office says they are working on the case, and it is listed on their website here.
But they don’t have a timeline of when the findings will be released.
"No footage, no police reports, no answers, all dead ends - all just grief and hurt and pain, that’s what my family is going through,” said Gutierrez.
The family had a banner hanging there and a memorial set up at the park — everything was taken away.
"We don’t know if that was the direction of the city, we don’t know if that was just a resident acting on their own accord, to add insult to injury, not only do we have a dead family member, now we have stolen property of what was there to remember him,” added Gutierrez.
The family visits the park, sings and prays for Marcelo, and has chalk writing on the trail, with messages to him.
"My brother was a gentle giant. He was a nerd at heart, he loved books, he loved Harry Potter, he loved Lord of the Rings,” added Gutierrez.
Hoping to get answers soon and find a way to honor their loved one too.
"Why is it taking so long? No one can give us answers, no one can tell us why this is taking so long. We literally don’t know anything, nothing, and that pains us,” Gutierrez said.
