SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Police Dept. Homicide Squad asked for the public's help in locating a 14-year-old boy accused of shooting and killing a 17-year-old in Salt Lake City Saturday night.
They then announced Monday that the suspect was found and taken into custody.
The shooting occurred Saturday around 8:20 p.m. when officers responded to reports of a shooting in the area, finding the 17-year-old male with a critical gunshot wound.
The male was transported to a local hospital where he later died. Officers unsuccessfully attempted to locate the suspect at the scene. SLCPD believes this to be an isolated incident.
Police later identified the male to be 17-year-old Muridthi Hamad.
“I keep saying to myself, ‘How many will it take? How many more are we going to see lose their lives? Young people?” said Terri Gilfillan with the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah.
“We really have to start addressing the access to firearms. There’s no way a fourteen-year-old should have access to a firearm,” said Moe Hickey, executive director of Voices for Utah Children.
Hickey said gun violence has increased as a cause of death for Utah children within the last decade.
On Monday, the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee will consider HB 354 which could hold a gun owner criminally liable if their firearm is not safely secured and used by someone else to commit a crime.
The incident marks the third homicide in Salt Lake City for 2023.
