8-month-old infant, woman shot and killed in WestFest shooting

WEST VALLEY CITY — Three people were killed late Sunday in a shooting after a dispute between two groups in West Valley City, including an infant and a woman who were bystanders.

It happened at Centennial Park at 5405 W. 3100 South during the final day of WestFest, the annual event to commemorate the establishment of West Valley City.

About 9:20 p.m., officers who were working at WestFest saw two groups of people “who seemed to be having some sort of a verbal altercation,” West Valley City police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku said.

Officers approached the group to break up the fight and “calm things down,” she said. As they approached, they saw a male from one of the groups “pull out a gun and start firing it toward the other group,” she said.

One officer returned fire toward the suspect but did not hit him. They did, however, take the suspect “very quickly” into custody.

Five people were shot. A 41-year-old woman and 8-month-old infant unconnected to the groups that were fighting were both taken to a hospital with injuries, where they died.

An 18-year-old believed to be part of the fight died at the scene.

Two teenagers suffered gunshot wounds to their arms.

A festivalgoer, Omar Ortiz, told KSL-TV he heard several gunshots and initially could not find his girlfriend and his daughter, who had separated from him at the festival while he went to get food. Eventually, he found them, but he described the situation as terrifying, as everyone started running after the gunshots rang out.

This story will be updated.