Charges filed in Fashion Place Mall shooting

SALT LAKE CITY — Five people are now facing charges in Utah’s 3rd District Court in a weekend shooting outside Murray’s Fashion Place Mall.

Prosecutors charged Flaviano Aguilar, 20, Jorge Luis Crecencio-Gonzalez, 19, Arian Huerta, 20, Jesus Joshua Payan-Mendoza, 19, and Steven Alexander Perez-Hernandez, 18, with causing a riot, which is a third-degree felony.

In addition, Perez-Hernandez is charged with discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, as well as obstruction of justice. Aguilar and Crecencio-Gonzalez are also charged with obstructing justice.

If convicted, those charges could come with gang-enhanced penalties.

Police said the shooting on Jan. 13 resulted from a confrontation between members of two rival gangs, who first argued inside the mall before going outside, where a man and a woman were shot.

Charging documents show police identified seven members of the Florencia 13 gang and four members of the Nortenos gang as having been involved in the confrontation. According to the court documents, surveillance video showed both groups inside Fashion Place Mall’s Fanzz store arguing, then leaving the store at around the same time.

Two of the members of the Florencia 13 gang were said to be 17-years-old. The charging documents say one of the 17-year-olds fired the first shot, followed by return fire from a Norteno member that did not hit anyone.

The charges state another man witnessed Perez-Hernandez telling the 17-year-old to fire the weapon. The documents also say that one member of the Florencia 13 gang gave money to that 17-year-old said to have fired the gun in order to help him continue to evade police.

Murray police say the two 17-year-olds are not yet in custody.