A teenager is in custody after five people were shot inside a family home – four of them fatally – in Grantsville, a Salt Lake City, Utah suburb. Deseret News reported that the five people are all members of the same family.
The suspect is believed to be a teenager who “is a member of the family,” according to the news site. The suspect is in custody. In a news conference, police confirmed that the deceased victims were an adult female and three children, two female and one male. The wounded victim is an adult male.
Although police haven’t released names, a family member wrote on Facebook that his dad was the wounded victim, writing, “UPDATE: I am with my father at the hospital and he is in Stable Condition. I just want to thank you all for your prayers and your support toward me and my dad. All I can ask is for your continued support and prayers. Seriously, thank you all.” Horrifically, he wrote earlier: “Anyone in Grantsville know is going on??? I can’t get ahold of my family and they live on the street where the shooting happened.”
Always tell your loved ones that you love them.
News of the mass shooting broke on the evening of January 17, 2020. Grantsville is located about 35 miles from Salt Lake City. The community has a population of less than 10,000 people and is located in the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Here’s what you need to know:
Police Located the Suspect at the Hospital, Where One of the Victims Was Driven
A terrible turn of events happening last night in Grantsville. 4 are dead, 3 of them under the age of 18 and a 5th victim is recovering in the hospital. One person is in custody and was arrested at the hospital for their murder. Live with @AmyNayNews with more only on @fox13
In a news conference with local reporters at the scene, Grantsville Police Department Corporal Rhonda Fields described Grantsville as a “relatively quiet community. We don’t see things like this here.”
She provided some details. Officers responded to the home at 7 p.m. Officers were given the information “that there were possibly deceased individuals in the house….they located four deceased individuals.”
According to Fields, “it’s believed they may all be related,” but she wouldn’t confirm that information outright. She described the victims as “three female subjects, two of which are juveniles and one of which is an adult female. The fourth subject who is deceased is a juvenile male.”
A male subject, the fifth victim, “had already left the residence on the way to the hospital as he had sustained a gunshot wound as well,” she said, adding that the fifth victim is in stable condition and is expected to survive.
There’s only one shooter and that person has been taken into custody, although his identity has not been released yet.
“We haven’t confirmed his relationship if any to the victims. He had actually left the residence as well and was at the hospital. He hadn’t sustained any injuries, although he was found at the hospital. There was no incident in taking him into custody,” said Fields.
As the suspect was driven to the hospital with the surviving victim by another unidentified person, it all added up to “a lot of confusion, a lot of questions and unknowns,” said Fields. She believes the suspect and surviving victim went to the hospital together.
Investigators have cleared the scene at a quadruple homicide in Grantsville
Fields said it hadn’t been confirmed whether the suspect was a juvenile. “We need to establish a timeline for the course of events for the entire day to get a starting point… a clear picture of what’s taking place today,” she said.
She said there was no police history to the house. “It makes it a little more difficult to try to piece things together” especially within hours of the incident, Fields said.
Police were alerted by a 911 call by the person “who actually drove the surviving victim up to the hospital.” That person’s relationship to the victims and suspect is not clear.
Gov. Gary Herbert tweeted about the tragedy, writing, “Our hearts are broken by the horrible news coming out of Grantsville tonight,” he said. “We mourn over the loss of innocent lives.”
At the scene, Grantsville Mayor Brent Marshall, told Deseret News: “It’s an unfortunate tragedy that has taken place here this evening. And I’m sure it will take days or even longer to try and piece together what brought all of this one and why it happened, if we ever get to know why it happened. It’s upsetting. This is normally a very quiet neighborhood, and any time you have children involved in something, it becomes very emotional, very fast.
Investigators were clearing the scene in the residential neighborhood.
This post is being updated as more information is learned about the Salt Lake City area shooting.