Officers talking about past shootings hear gunshots moments later, video shows

SALT LAKE CITY — “Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, there was a shooting every single time,” one police officer is heard in body camera video telling his partner.

Moments later, between five and six shots are heard.

Salt Lake police released two videos on Monday by officers who were in the area when shots were fired on Dec. 13. The officers were called to a parking lot near 149 W. Pierpont Ave. just before 3 a.m. on a report of a fight. None of the businesses on Pierpont were open at that time.

According to police, multiple officers responded to the area to look for “victims, witnesses, suspects and evidence of a fight.” At 3 a.m., an officer radioed to dispatchers that there was no active fight. At 3:11 a.m., officers walking on Pierpont Avenue heard multiple gunshots and began running toward the area where the shots were heard.

One video is just 46 seconds long. Several people are heard arguing nearby, followed by the sounds of shots.

A second video is 1 minute and 20 seconds long and shows two officers walking along Pierpont. Just as one officer finished telling the other about previous shootings at an undisclosed establishment, shots are heard.

At the same time, officers in the 100 block of Broadway saw a white sedan speeding away.

“A rear passenger fired shots from the vehicle toward officers. One officer returned fire, discharging at least one round,” according to a statement from Salt Lake police. But the officer who fired “had not been dispatched to the call and their body-worn camera had not yet been activated when shots were fired.”

No injuries were reported from the incident. The officer who fired at the vehicle is on standard paid leave pending the outcome of a police shooting investigation.

Police have not announced any arrests in the case.