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Teen charged with 4 counts of murder in Utah carnival shooting

Teen charged with 4 counts of murder in Utah carnival shooting

Prosecutors in Utah charged a 16-year-old boy with four counts of murder Friday for allegedly shooting to death three people, including an infant and pregnant woman, in an apparent gang confrontation at a carnival.
In all, five people, including two teens wounded in the arm, were shot late Sunday at WestFest in West Valley City, a Salt Lake City suburb.
The shooting happened a day after one at a 'No Kings' protest the day before, making for an unusually violent weekend for the Salt Lake City area.
Two of those killed were bystanders: the 8-month-old boy and 41-year-old pregnant woman, Fnu Reena, 41, of West Jordan, Utah. An 18-year-old man slain, Hassan Lugundi, of West Valley City, was the apparent intended target, according to a police affidavit filed in the case.
'I'm gonna tell you guys right now, I know what I hit because I know where I was aiming, and I know where I was shooting. I did not hit no baby,' the teen allegedly told police soon after the shooting.
Police learned later that Reena was eight weeks pregnant, resulting in the fourth murder count under Utah law. Shot in her head, Reena had just been in for a medical checkup that day, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said at a news conference Friday.
The infant, also shot in the head, was in a stroller with his twin sibling, who was unhurt. The infant was unrelated to the other victims.
A 17-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were each shot in the arm, and a pregnant woman was injured while trying to flee over a fence, according to police.
Besides the murder charges, the alleged shooter faced nine felony counts of discharging a firearm resulting in serious injury.
Each murder charge could bring a life sentence if not the death penalty for an adult. As a juvenile, the suspect was ineligible for the death penalty or life in prison.
Prosecutors asked that the teenager remain jailed without bond. Court documents did not identify an attorney for the youth who could speak on his behalf.
The gun used in the shooting was a Taurus G2C 9 mm handgun reported stolen in Louisiana, according to police.
The alleged shooter was a member of the Titanic Crip Society, a rival of the Bloods gang. Lugundi was friends with Bloods members, according to the affidavit.
The WestFest carnival, a celebration of the establishment of West Valley City and of its cultural diversity, was winding down after drawing as many as 10,000 people over the weekend. Between 1,000 to 2,000 people were still present when the shooting happened.
The apparently unrelated shooting at the 'No Kings' protest the day before happened when a man believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the rally shot at a man brandishing a rifle at demonstrators, striking both the rifleman and a bystander. The rifleman had relatively minor injuries, but the bystander died at a hospital.
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A makeshift memorial for Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, known to friends and family as Afa, is seen Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in downtown Salt Lake City, on the block where Ah Loo was fatally shot during a "No Kings" protest on Saturday, June 14. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum) A man accused of brandishing a rifle at a 'No Kings' rally in Utah — prompting an armed safety volunteer to open fire and accidentally kill a protester — has been released from jail while the investigation continues. Salt Lake District Attorney Sim Gill's office said Friday that it was unable to make a decision on charges against Arturo Gamboa, who had been jailed on suspicion of murder following the June 14 shooting. Salt Lake City police had said Gamboa brought an assault-style rifle to the rally and was allegedly moving toward the crowd with the weapon raised when a safety volunteer for the event fired three shots, wounding Gamboa and killing a nearby demonstrator, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo. Gamboa did not fire his rifle and it is unclear what he intended to do with it. His father Albert Gamboa, told The Associated Press earlier this week that his son was 'an innocent guy' who was 'in the wrong place at the wrong time.' Utah is an open-carry state, meaning people who can legally own a firearm are generally allowed to carry it on a public street. The volunteer has not been publicly identified as investigators have worked to determine who was at fault. Judge James Blanch said in the release order that Gamboa must live with his father and is forbidden from possessing firearms. The conditions terminate after two months or if criminal charges against him are pursued, Blanch wrote. Gamboa's attorney, Greg Skordas, did not immediately respond to a telephone message left for him seeking comment. Police said the day after the shooting that witnesses reported seeing Gamboa lift the rifle when he was ordered to drop it and that instead he began running toward the crowd. He fled but was arrested nearby, accused of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo's death. Salt Lake City police said in a statement the next day that Gamboa 'knowingly engaged in conduct ... that ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member.' But three days after Gamboa was booked into jail, with no formal charges filed, police acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding the shooting remained uncertain. They issued a public appeal for any video footage related to the shooting or Gamboa, and said detectives were still trying 'to piece together exactly what happened.' The volunteer who confronted Gamboa was described by event organizers as a military veteran whose role as a safety volunteer was to maintain order. Experts say it's extremely rare for such individuals, often called safety marshals, to be armed. They typically rely on calm demeanor, communication and relationships with police and protesters to help keep order, said Edward Maguire, an Arizona State University criminology and criminal justice professor. Police said the permit for the protest did not specify that there would be armed security. Protest organizers have not said whether or how the safety volunteer who shot Ah Loo was trained or explained why he was armed. All attendees, including those in safety roles, were asked not to bring weapons, according to Sarah Parker, a national coordinator for the 50501 Movement. Parker's organization on Thursday said it was disassociating from a local chapter of the group that helped organize the Utah protest. The demonstration involving some 18,000 people was otherwise peaceful. It was one of hundreds nationwide against President Donald Trump's military parade in Washington, which marked the Army's 250th anniversary and coincided with Trump's birthday. Matthew Brown, The Associated Press

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