After the deadly shooting at an SLC apartment, the police chief urges raising the minimum age to buy guns

One man was killed and two others injured Monday night. Another person had an injury unrelated to gunfire.

The Salt Lake City police chief on Tuesday asked residents to “stop gun violence” and said he supports raising the minimum age to purchase firearms, a statement that came after a fatal shooting at an apartment building in the capital.

The shooting at a West Side apartment complex is still under investigation, Chief Mike Brown said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, but the Salt Lake City Police Department believes it may have been an attempted robbery.

A man died Monday after suffering multiple gunshot wounds at the Seasons Pebble Creek apartment complex near the intersection of 1700 South and Redwood Road, according to a police press release. An 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old man were also shot and injured. And a 21-year-old man was injured when someone hit him with a gun.

No details were released about the man killed until family members were notified.

The 18-year-old is still in the hospital in “serious” condition, the statement said. The 19-year-old and the 21-year-old were released from care.

Witnesses told police there was “a very big commotion, a fight” just before shots were fired, police spokesman Brent Weisberg said Monday. After the shooting, these witnesses said they saw several people drive away in cars.

Officers later drove past a car on Redwood Road near 1100 South and found two wounded inside, the release said.

Authorities found another car near Redwood Road and 60 South with a wounded person inside. Officials carried out life-saving measures on the person, who was taken to a hospital.

Police previously said the shooting appears to be an isolated and targeted shooting involving people who know each other. No arrests were made, Brown said.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call 801-799-3000 and reference number 22-106677.

appeal to the community

At Tuesday’s press conference, Brown called gun violence and gun crime an “epidemic.”

The police chief said there have been 30 robberies and 60 aggravated gun attacks and more than 28 auto shootings in Salt Lake City since the beginning of the year.

Asked if he supports raising the minimum age to buy guns, Brown said: “I don’t understand why we would allow an 18-year-old to go in and buy an assault rifle and the ammunition to fire that gun. ”

It is unclear how old the perpetrator of the apartment shooting is. But he added that raising the minimum age would be “a very responsible act in our community.”

He later clarified that, in his opinion, the minimum age for all weapons should be raised, not just assault rifles.

Brown said SLCPD is doing “everything we can” to get guns off the streets, including stopping traffic and closely monitoring “hot blocks” around the city.

“We confiscate a lot of weapons,” he said. “Through strong, proactive policing, we’re taking guns off the streets every day.”

But Brown urged the public to help, too, by sending police tips on past and potential gun crimes and attending the department’s gun buyback event, which took place on Saturday.

If you know a gun crime is about to happen, he urged, call 911.

“You could be the voice,” Brown said, “that will prevent the next gun tragedy in our community.”