Salt Lake City police say a demonstrator who was shot at the city's “No Kings” protest has died and that the bullet that killed him appears to have been fired by one of the demonstration's peacekeepers.

A man who was believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City shot at a person who was brandishing a rifle at demonstrators, striking both the rifleman and a bystander who later died at the hospital, authorities said Sunday.

Police took the alleged rifleman, Arturo Gamboa, 24, into custody Saturday evening on a murder charge, Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said at a Sunday news conference. The bystander was Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, a fashion designer from Samoa.

Detectives don’t yet know why Gamboa pulled out a rifle or ran from the peacekeepers, but they accused him of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death. The Associated Press did not immediately find an attorney listed for Gamboa or contact information for his family in public records.

  • InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works
    791·
    4 months ago

    allegedly saw Gamboa separate from the crowd of marchers in downtown Salt Lake City, move behind a wall and withdraw a rifle around 8 p.m., Redd said.

    When the two men in vests confronted Gamboa with their handguns drawn, witnesses said Gamboa raised his rifle into a firing position and ran toward the crowd, said Redd.

    That’s when one of the men dressed in the vests shot three rounds, hitting Gamboa and Ah Loo, said Redd. Gamboa, who police said didn’t have a criminal history, was wounded and treated before being booked into jail.

    Emphasis mine. If that’s true, that could have become a mass shooting.
    Still sucks to be the innocent bystander though.

    • hash@lemmy.world
      29·
      4 months ago

      Yes, this is a tragic and complex way to have averted a mass shooting but that appears to be what happened. After being shot non-critically it appears the shooter lost their nerve, threw their rifle in a bag and tried to run/rejoin the crowd.

      I’ve been bracing myself for the disgusting politics to hit. Like I can feel right wing pundits hand wringing to show the armed protesters ‘have no idea how to handle guns.’

      Adding fuel to the fire, we had a shooting last night at a multicultural festival where three were killed, one being 8 months old.