Salt Lake police investigate two different drive-by shootings

Jul 31, 2019, 2:17 PM | Updated: 6:47 pm

(Credit: Paul Nelson)

KSLNewsRadio

SALT LAKE CITY — Officers are trying to track down the suspects in two separate, likely unrelated shootings on Salt Lake City’s west side.

Two people, both believed to be teenagers, are recovering after what police say may have been a drive-by shooting in Salt Lake City’s Rose Park neighborhood. It happened just before 2:00 on Catherine Street near 10th North.

Maria Reyes was calling home to tell her family she was working late. That’s when she was told her grandsons were hurt in the shooting.

“They told me, ‘Hurry and get home. [Someone] just shot your kids,” she says.

She says her grandsons have been doing well in school, recently, and she doesn’t know why someone would target them. Reyes says there is a lot of gang activity along the street.

“There were two different gang members and there were always shootings along here. It’s been like that ever since,” according to Reyes.

Police in Salt Lake are trying to find a suspect in a drive-by shooting on Catherine St. in Rose Park. Two teens were hurt, but they are expected to survive. pic.twitter.com/lDiEfFRahj

— Paul Nelson (@KSLPaul) July 31, 2019

Salt Lake Detective Greg Wilking says they can’t confirm if this particular shooting was gang-related

“By all accounts, it looks like a drive-by shooting event,” Wilking says, adding, “We found two juveniles that had sustained gunshot wounds. It doesn’t look like they’re life-threatening, at this point.”

— Paul Nelson (@KSLPaul) July 31, 2019

It was unclear whether the boys had any connection to the Rose Park home they were standing outside at the time of the shooting. Police have not made any arrests.

Later in the afternoon, officers were called to the scene of another drive-by shooting, this time near 400 South and Redwood Road. Investigators say the victim was hit in the abdomen, but is expected to survive. The suspect drove away in a red vehicle.