Salt Lake City Police are investigating a fight involving a rifle that caused panic at the Salt Lake City Regional Athletic Complex on Saturday.
According to a news release from the SLPD, someone called 911 at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday about a fight involving a weapon, which was later determined to be a rifle.
A soccer tournament was taking place at the complex, according to Fox 13, and a witness at the tournament said adults and children were screaming and running to get away when they heard someone had a weapon.
The argument “does not appear to be related to the soccer tournament or any of the games occurring at the complex,” and no shots were fired during the incident, according to police.
The “primary involved parties” have been identified but no arrests have been made, according to the release. Police are still investigating the incident.
Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, shared a letter via Twitter from the U.S. Youth Soccer National Office responding to the incident. The letter stated the team associated with the individuals in the incident was “expelled from the remainder of this weekend’s events,” and all remaining games were cleared by local authorities to be played as scheduled.
“We do all we can to create an environment where children and families can feel supported and safe, but sometimes the outside world intrudes on our efforts and presents serious challenges,” the letter states. “Today we faced such an incident. We are both saddened by the traumatic experience for all involved, but also extremely proud of staff and volunteers who worked quickly to help local authorities defuse the situation, remove the individual(s) involved and assuage the concerns of teams and players.”
Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call 801-799-3000 and reference case number 21-166016, SLCPD stated in the release.
