SALT LAKE CITY — Police arrested a man accused of shooting three people earlier this week, killing one during a chaotic fight at a Salt Lake bar and lounge.
Kasim Sheikh-Mumin, 41, was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on Saturday for investigation of homicide, three counts felony discharge of a firearm and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, according to court documents.
Police were called just after midnight Tuesday on multiple reports of shots fired. They arrived to find one person shot in the arm at the Main Street Motel, 1518 S. Main. Officers then found Salesi Tvivailala Katoa, 37, of Salt Lake City, dead inside a car near Kensington Avenue and State Street. A third person later showed up at St. Mark’s Hospital to be treated for a gunshot wound.
Sheikh-Mumin told police that three men knocked on the door at Kings Lounge, 25 Kensington Ave, where he was staying with another man and woman, a police booking affidavit states. Sheikh-Mumin said he let the men in because he knew one of them, according to police.
Sheikh-Mumin said the group was sitting in the lounge when one of the men took out a meth pipe, the affidavit states. Sheikh-Mumin said he told the man to put the meth away, when one of the other visiting men starting punching him in the head, according to police.
Sheikh-Mumin said he “heard several gunshots the moment he fell to the ground,” police said. He said he then saw everyone run out of the lounge and heard more gunshots, the affidavit states.
But the man and woman with whom Sheikh-Mumin was staying at the lounge told a different story, according to court documents.
During an interview with police, the other man told them that Sheikh-Mumin was having an argument with the visiting men when at one point “he was being threatened with a knife.”
Sheikh-Mumin “had a ‘pea-shooter .22’ (firearm) in his hands. One of the (other men) was hitting (Sheikh-Mumin) and was trying take the firearm away,” police said.
Another man was holding the friend at knifepoint “and told him not to get involved,” police said. The friend told police he got his gun out of a holster and fired between three and four rounds in the opposite direction away from the others, according to the affidavit. The man then realized the woman had been shot in the arm and dropped the gun to help her.
Sheikh-Mumin then “picked up the firearm from the ground and ran out of the door,” police said. His friend then heard eight more shots fired outside before Sheikh-Mumin returned “and made a comment about him killing someone,” the friend told police.
The woman also told police she heard Sheikh-Mumin return and say “I killed someone,” according to the affidavit.
“Detectives have reason to believe that (Sheikh-Mumin) was no longer in grave danger” before he fired multiple rounds at Katoa while he was attempting to flee in a vehicle, police said.
Police asked that Sheikh-Mumin be held without bail because he was on probation or parole or was free on bail awaiting trial on a previous felony charge.
In 2012, Sheikh-Mumin pleaded guilty to attempted possession or use of a controlled substance and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, court records show. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to unlawful acquisition or possession of a transfer card.
In 2019, Sheikh-Mumin was charged with exploiting prostitution, possession or use of a controlled substance, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.