SALT LAKE CITY — Stacy Hanson, who was struck by shotgun blasts three times and paralyzed during the 2007 Trolley Square shootings, died Nov. 5 in Salt Lake City. He was 70.
His family announced Hanson’s death in an obituary published last week. In a brief phone interview Monday with FOX 13, Hanson’s widow, Colleen Hanson, said an autopsy had been performed to determine whether her husband’s death was attributable to his gunshot injuries. The state medical examiner will use the results to determine whether to rule his death a homicide, Colleen Hanson said.
On Feb. 12, 2007, Stacy Hanson was a 53-year-old copywriter and marketer, husband and father living in Salt Lake City. He went into Trolley Square and a shop called Cabin Fever to buy his wife a Valentine’s Day card.
That’s when 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic entered the mall and began shooting shoppers. Talovic murdered five people that night. Hanson was one of four people left wounded.
An off-duty Ogden police officer traded gunshots with Talovic. A SWAT team from Salt Lake City then entered Trolley Square and killed Talovic. He left behind nothing to explain his motive for the shootings.
Hanson spent weeks in the hospital. FOX 13 was there April 17, 2007, when non-profit organizations finished making his Salt Lake City home wheelchair accessible. The event was also a chance for Hanson to thank the first responders who helped him that night and other strangers who supported him.
“The best part is being able to see everyone that was involved,” Hanson said that day, “and everyone that cares and everyone that was thinking good thoughts and prayers and everything else for us.”
“I’m getting stronger every day,” he added. “Again, rehab has been fabulous, and I’ve gotten a lot of strength back that I had before, and there’s nothing but a bright future ahead.”
That future was hard. He had hopes of walking again, but that never happened. His obituary noted Hanson underwent more than 30 surgeries.
Meanwhile, he became an advocate for limiting access to firearms. His obituary asked mourners to “vote for responsible gun reform.”
The family plans to hold services in 2024.
