Two men and a woman — all in their 20s — were gunned down early Saturday morning in their idling SUV, which was parked at a westside 7-Eleven across from the Utah State Fairpark.
With few, if any, significant witnesses and little evidence, police say they have no leads about a motive or who might have pulled the trigger shortly after 3 a.m.
The threesome had left a party a short time earlier and were at 960 W. North Temple when they were shot to death, according to Salt Lake Police Capt. Mark Peck.
The names of three had not been released pending notification of family members.
"The call came in at 3:03 a.m. on 911 of shots fired and someone slumped down in a car. The officers responded very quickly," Peck said. "They were there within 2 1/2 to three minutes."
Once there, police found the silver-and-maroon vehicle with its engine running, backed into a parking stall. "The three victims were deceased upon the officers' arrival," Peck said.
Peck said all three apparently were friends who lived in the Salt Lake Valley and who had left a party about 30 minutes prior to their deaths.
Peck said he had no information about any fights or disagreements that might have occurred at the party, and detectives have no indication that the incident might have been drug- or family-related.
"What's puzzling is that our detectives can find no motive for this incident," Peck said, adding that police currently do not have a suspect.
He asked that anyone who might have seen or heard anything in the area call police dispatch at 799-3000.
"There were no suspects at the scene," Peck said. "Witness information is very sketchy."
The witnesses near the scene who were interviewed by police stated they heard between three and seven shots, fired in rapid succession
At least two witnesses saw a white vehicle, variously described as a white Camaro or white four-door car, speeding away from the parking lot about the same time the 911 call came in. "But it's unknown if that vehicle is connected, or how it might be connected, to the shooting," Peck said.
Police declined to release specific information about the victims, such as their exact ages, how many times the individuals were shot or who was sitting where in the vehicle. They also would not say what type of weapon was used. Bullet casings and other forensic evidence was retrieved from the scene, but Peck offered no details.
"We're playing it close to the vest," he said. "The detectives are following up on different leads and different theories."
The area generally is quite busy and filled with traffic, but Peck noted that it's a lot quieter in the early hours of the morning.
The homicide unit worked through the night at the crime scene and left about 8 a.m. The three bodies and the vehicle were moved to another location, and the store was allowed to reopen.
Peck said the SUV had Utah plates and was registered to an address in Salt Lake City.
7-Eleven headquarters restricted employees from talking to the press about details of the shooting, but workers on the late morning shift Saturday expressed relief about not having worked the night before.
7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris also said she was relieved.
"I'm just happy our store wasn't involved, none of our sales associates were involved, and none of our employees were injured," she said.
If employees feel traumatized by the incident, professional counseling is available.
"We offer it not only to people who worked on that shift, but anyone who works at that store," as well as employees at other stores, Chabris said. "It can be very disconcerting if they haven't caught the person yet," she said.
Chabris said that the security tapes from inside the store were turned over to police. The store on North Temple doesn't have security cameras outside.
The last triple homicide in Salt Lake City was the 1995 shooting deaths of Roman Lojik, Jorge Cruz and Cesar David Rivera in a duplex near 200 W. North Temple.
Alfredo Sebastion and Louis Cruz originally were charged with capital murder but later were sentenced to prison on lesser charges in connection with the deaths.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com; jdougherty@desnews.com.