SOUTH SALT LAKE — South Salt Lake police have made an arrest in the shooting death of a man over the weekend.
Ashish Biswa, 24, of Salt Lake City, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Monday for investigation of murder, possession of a weapon by a restricted person, and three counts of firing a shot.
Mostafa Hosseini, 26, was shot and killed early Saturday in the parking lot of a complex of town homes near 450 East and 2200 South. Witnesses reported hearing three to four shots, according to a police affidavit.
After the shooting, witnesses told police that they saw a man run through the complex and another crying and trying to get into one of the units, the affidavit states.
Police later located a man who told investigators that he, Biswa, Hosseini and others went to a club together in Salt Lake City that night and afterward went to the town homes to drop off Biswa, the affidavit states. The group traveled in two vehicles.
Hosseini was driving one of the vehicles with three men, including Biswa, according to police. After parking, Hosseini was shot. A passenger in the vehicle ran to a second car that Hosseini’s girlfriend was driving and they fled. They then turned around shortly after to check on Hosseini, but left the area after determining that he was already dead and hearing approaching police sirens, according to the affidavit.
Another witness told police that the group in Hosseini’s car had been passing around a handgun that Biswa took out of his coat pocket to show everyone, the affidavit states.
While this was happening, Hosseini asked Biswa for one of his cigarettes but he said no, police wrote in the affidavit. Witnesses noted that earlier in the night, Biswa had wanted to try on Hosseini’s Rolex but he repeatedly said no.
The argument over the cigarette became “very heated,” the affidavit says. That’s when others, who were getting out of the car, heard the gunshots.
According to police, Biswa “has a very extensive criminal history, including robbery, burglary, failure to stop at the command of police, aggravated robbery, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. (Biswa) is on felony probation.”
He was arrested and charged for two weapons-related incidents in 2020. According to court records, he pleaded guilty in August to robbery and possession of a weapon by a restricted person, but he was given a suspended prison sentence and placed on probation. Another case filed about the same time charging him with aggravated robbery was dismissed as part of a plea deal.