SANDY — Police confirm three people are dead and another two wounded in a shooting near 2400 East and 8600 South in Sandy.
Police say an adult male suspect rammed another car and then got out of his vehicle before opening fire. They later confirmed that suspect is dead along with an adult woman and a juvenile male.
Of the survivors, police said a juvenile male was in critical, but stable condition and a juvenile female in stable condition. They did not provide ages for any of the people who were shot.
Ben Crouch, a nearby resident, arrived on scene shortly after the shooting.
“I walked around the truck and the truck – or the SUV, I’m not sure what it was now, but – the engine was running. I walked over and started to get within maybe 15 or 20 feet of the other, the other car, and the people that were down, and I noticed they weren’t moving,” Crouch told KSL, explaining that was the moment he realized something was seriously wrong.
Another eyewitness, Colby Corbett, said he heard the actual gunshots and ran out to make sure his child was okay.
“He was walking home from school and I was in my backyard when I heard the car wreck,” Corbett said. “And then I just heard boom, boom, boom and I heard a bunch of gunshots.”
Brookwood Elementary School, located just a couple of blocks away, was briefly locked down while officers secured the area. Some children were in the process of walking home at the time of the shooting.
“Moms and dads who may not have even known kids who were on the street at the time of the incident pulled them into cars and drive them to safety,” said Jeff Haney, a spokesman for the Canyons School District, “or pulled them into houses and keep them safe until police were able to respond and contain the incident.”
There is some concern those students may have been a witness to what happened or traumatized by the aftermath.
“We will make crisis counselors available tonight and all day tomorrow to assist the students, staff, the faculty, who are dealing with the aftermath of this incident,” Haney said.
The school has now been reopened to serve as a reunification center for local families.
