Two U football players are in serious condition and no suspects are in custody after a shooting near campus late Saturday night.
Police say the shooting happened at 11:53 p.m. at 310 S. 1300 E. A confrontation occurred outside a residential party when a shooter fired rounds into a crowd and injured two players, freshman running back Marcel Brooks-Brown and sophomore tight end Lo Falemaka. Both have torso wounds and are expected to survive and recover.
Police and multiple witnesses suspect the incident started when a group of three men tried to enter a house party that they were not invited to. Attendees of the party confronted the group on the sidewalk outside the house.
A U student who chose to remain anonymous said the group was walking away from the house when someone threw a beer can at them. One of the alleged suspects then turned, produced a pistol and fired four to six rounds into the crowd. The witness estimates there were 30 to 40 people in the front lawn area.
Salt Lake City Police Department lieutenant Craig Gleason described the scene afterwards as chaotic.
“There were hundreds of people here by the time police arrived,” he said. “We had some trouble on the scene getting our two victims transported to the hospital.”
Head football coach Kyle Whittingham issued a statement this morning regarding the shootings.
“Obviously, our first concern is that both Lo and Marcel are going to be OK, which appears to be the case,” he said. “We don’t have all of the details yet, but it is our understanding that they are the victims in this incident, and we feel very fortunate that they are expected to fully recover. It is unknown at this time how soon they will be able to return to the football field, but we are optimistic it will be in the near future.”
Gleason also stated there are no suspects in custody.
“We have multiple suspect descriptions from multiple different people,” he said. “It’s always nice to have witnesses, but we had so many people here … We have a mass of information to sort through and decide what we think is accurate.”
Police want to collect more information on the shooter and his whereabouts.
“I suspect there are people … who certainly know who the shooter is, or there are people who took pictures on their phone,” Gleason said. “There’s someone who has information that will help us solve this case.”
Three suspects were described by police. The first was a black male in his twenties, the second a black male in his twenties and short dreadlocks, and the third was a white, heavyset male with facial hair.
Those with information are encouraged to call SLC PD at 801.799.3000.
The Daily Utah Chronicle will update this story as more information becomes available.