Six people were hospitalized Tuesday after a stabbing outside a downtown Salt Lake City funeral home.
The stabbing stemmed from a fight outside Neil O’Donnell Funeral Home that broke out at about 1:30 p.m., Salt Lake City police spokesperson Brent Weisberg said. The funeral home is located near the intersection of 400 East and 100 South.
Before the fight, several dozen people had been attending a viewing at the funeral home, Salt Lake City police said Wednesday. The fight began during the viewing and escalated outside, where multiple people were stabbed.
Officers arrived to find at least three people stabbed and one person who initially appeared to have been shot, Weisberg said. Police later said doctors weren’t able to confirm whether a gunshot had caused that person’s critical injuries.
Two others who were injured in the fight but not stabbed were later found in a car that left the scene “at a high rate of speed,” Weisberg said.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Police at the scene of a fight and stabbing near 100 South 400 East in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
Witnesses reported a description of the vehicle to 911 operators. Officers soon stopped the car about a mile away, near 49 West Broadway, Weisberg said.
Three people were inside, including the two people injured. Investigators also found a firearm in the car. The third person inside the vehicle was taken in for questioning.
All six people wounded in the fight were hospitalized. Authorities did not identify any of the people injured but on Wednesday released their ages: a 17-year-old boy and five men ages 21, 25, 30, 32, and 35.
The person initially believed to have been shot suffered life-threatening injuries; the five others hurt suffered minor to serious injuries.
“This was a very chaotic scene,” Weisberg said near the funeral home Tuesday afternoon. “At this point, we have not been able to determine the motive for this, nor have we been able to determine how many people were considered suspects or victims.”
No arrests had been made as of Wednesday afternoon.
Shawn Wiscombe, the owner of the funeral home, told The Salt Lake Tribune that he was working at the time of the fight and stabbing. He didn’t know what prompted the violence but said his main concern was ensuring the safety of the many people who had been at the service.
“It’s certainly unfortunate that something like this would take place at a funeral service,” Wiscombe said. “It’s already traumatic enough for families to experience the death of a loved one, but then to have that added on top of it — it just is something that is going to be a memory with them that is very unfortunate.”
Police asked nearby residents and business owners to check security and surveillance cameras for any footage that may be relevant to the ongoing investigation. Individuals may also submit anonymous tips through an online portal, authorities said Wednesday.
In a statement Tuesday evening, Salt Lake City police Chief Mike Brown said this type of police call is “extraordinarily rare for our city.”
“I am relieved to know that based on the preliminary investigation this was not a random attack,” he added in the statement.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Police at the scene of a fight and stabbing near 100 South 400 East in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
