Photo credit: West Valley City Police Department
WEST VALLEY CITY — A three-year-old child and two women, one the mother of that child, suffered gunshot wounds in a shooting at a Smith’s grocery store near 4100 S. Redwood Rd.
West Valley City Police confirm they have the shooting suspect in custody. He was arrested at Shadowbrook Apartments.
Deputy Matt Elson of the West Valley Police Department says the suspect was walking northbound passed the Smith’s grocery store. He then paused at the front door and fired several shots into the store just before 2 p.m. He says right now they have not been able to establish motive.
“We don’t know why,” Elson said. “We don’t know if there was a relationship with the people who were in the store.”
After that Elson says police believe he may have gone into the apartment complexes across the street.
Police say all three victims were shot in their legs and are expected to make a full physical recovery.
A manhunt went underway nearby for the shooting suspect, described as a balding white man in his 20s or 30s wearing a black hoodie. Residents of apartment complexes close to the store, including Redwood, Shadowbrook and Somerset Apartments, were advised to stay indoors while the search continued. At approximately 3:15 p.m., they lifted the order. Police ended the search for the suspect just after 5 p.m, confirming at 5:45 they arrested the man near 3800 south and Redwood Road.
Hugo Padilla is the husband of the woman who was shot. He said he was walking out of the store with his wife and daughter when shots began to fire. He says his family and another woman were hit.
“They start crying, my wife and my daughter, when they felt the shots,” he said. “The other girl was crying also and grabbing her legs.”
Padilla said he didn’t believe the suspected shooter was targeting him or his family.
“No, it wasn’t for my family. We are not from here. We are coming from Vegas. We don’t know (anybody) that can hurt us here,” he said. He also added that his young daughter has been treated for kidney cancer.
Granite School District schools were also affected by the manhunt. For the first little while students were not to be released from the school except to a parent/guardian or emergency contact with identification. However just before 4:30 p.m. they lifted all protocols.