MURRAY — Police have arrested two 16-year-old boys and a 19-year-old woman in connection with a Saturday night shooting at the Utah Fun Dome that sent four young adults and one child to local hospitals with gunshot wounds.
All three were booked for investigation of four counts of attempted criminal homicide, Murray police detective Rob Hall said. The names of the boys — one of whom was the shooter — are not being released because of their age. They were booked into juvenile detention and Bigsa Bouaphaphanh, who is believed to have driven the get-away car, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.
Police will screen the case with prosecutors early this week and actual formal criminal charges could differ, Hall said.
"But based on the information we had, we think they all had an equal role," Hall said. "We think they all had knowledge of what was to take place."
A spray of gunfire from a semiautomatic handgun rained down on the front entrance of the Fun Dome, 4998 S. Galleria Dr. (360 West) about 9:30 p.m. as dozens were exiting or standing in front of the building. Police say about 16 rounds were fired, but only two of those injured — both 16-year-old males — were the intended victims of the shooter.
"The other two were quite frankly in the wrong place at the wrong time," Hall said.
The boys, both from West Valley City, were treated and released for minor injuries at Cottonwood Hospital. One suffered a gunshot wound to a hand, and the other had an arm grazed by a bullet, Hall said.
The other victims included a 4-year-old Tooele County boy who was shot in the lower abdomen and a 20-year-old Salt Lake County woman who was shot in the foot. The boy and his family were at the Fun Dome to celebrate his birthday, said Hall. He was taken by medical helicopter to Primary Children's Hospital, where his condition was upgraded to fair and stable Sunday. The woman, who had surgery to remove a bullet lodged in her foot, was at St. Mark's Hospital. Hall did not know her condition, Sunday.
Police declined to release the names of any of the victims.
Hall also said that, given the number of people outside the Fun Dome at the time the boy opened fire, it is "very, very fortunate that more people were not hurt."
Dozens of Fun Dome patrons witnessed the shooting and provided the information, including a license plate number for the getaway car, that allowed police to make the three arrests within a few hours, Hall said. All of three are from West Valley City and were found in separate locations in that city in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Halls said police believe the shooting is gang-related and that a feud between the two groups may have been brewing for several days. Reportedly, the two groups had a heated verbal exchange at a West Valley arcade several hours before the shooting. Later at the Fun Dome, gang signs were flashed, and a second verbal exchange took place.
Police believe the shooter and his companions then hung around the parking lot waiting for an opportunity to confront their rivals, Hall said. Police have yet to recover the weapon used in the shooting.
Hall said it is not unusual for gang activity to occur at the Fun Dome but never have those exchanges turned violent.
"This was pretty blatant," said Hall. "To unload a gun in a public place . . . that's what concerns us."
E-MAIL: jdobner@desnews.com