A man who was shot at a Midvale motel on Sunday has died, and police have arrested a suspect.
Police were called to the Motel 6 at 7263 S. Catalpa Street about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, after witnesses reported that a man had been shot. Tyler Allen Williams, 30, of Ogden was taken to Intermountain Medical, where he died Monday.
Police arrested a 26-year-old suspect at the scene. According to a probable cause statement, they recovered a semi-automatic handgun, one spent 9mm casing and one live 9mm bullet in the parking lot outside the motel, and located a blood trail from where the victim was reportedly shot to the northwest end of the parking lot, where Williams collapsed. A rusted metal bar was also found near him.
According to police, a 13-year-old witness told them the two men were drinking in a room at the motel and “arguing throughout the night.” Williams grabbed two metal stakes from the motel’s lawn and “began to go after” the suspect with them, the witness said.
The suspect pointed the gun at Williams and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire, the witness said. The suspect pointed the gun and pulled the trigger a second time, this time shooting Williams — who “began screaming and running away, until he collapsed in the west portion of the parking lot.”
A second witness told police he met Williams in the motel parking lot and invited him to hang out with him. The witness said Williams and the suspect got in an argument, but settled it with a handshake. An hour or two later, the suspect began to follow Williams and the witness around the parking lot; a second argument broke out between Williams and the suspect; and the suspect starting waving a gun around. According to police, the witness said Williams “grabbed something to defend himself,” and that as he was walking back to his room he heard a gunshot.
The suspect ran over and pointed the gun in his face, the second witness told police, so he grabbed the 13-year-old and went back into his room.
According to police, they obtained surveillance video from the motel that showed the victim following Williams, who was holding pipes in both hands, and then the suspect advancing toward the victim. The suspect is then seen running through the parking lot as Williams “appeared to be stumbling, favoring his left side.”
Police wrote in the probable cause statement that the suspect made several “spontaneous statements,” including, “I f----- up,” “I would like lethal injection,” and “I stole the gun from my cousin.”
Before the suspect was informed of his Miranda rights and asked for a lawyer, he made “multiple comments” about shooting somebody and said he did not want to live if he’d killed someone, police wrote. The suspect also said it was “self-defense,” but did not elaborate.
The suspect has been booked into the Salt Lake County jail, where he is being held without bail pending formal charges.
The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name suspects until they have been formally charged.
