A gunman is still at large after a fatal shooting of a Tongan man in Salt Lake City, United States recently.
Police have now launched a homicide investigation into the death of Halapaini Latu Moala near 60 West Temple Street.
Reports said officers arrived on scene found a group of bystanders attempting to give CPR to the 22-year-old victim.
“Despite life-saving measures from the group and first responders, the victim died on the scene”.
Witnesses said the suspect or suspects fled the area before police arrived.
“In this situation, what was a little bit different that we haven’t seen in other homicide cases is there are large groups of community members who are also trying to perform CPR on the victim who had been shot,” SLCPD spokesman Brent Weisberg explained.
“Everyone eventually did scatter and break up and allow officers to get in, but it sounded like it was a challenge for officers to initially get in and provide first aid.”
During the investigation into the shooting, additional officers were called to the area for crowd control and to help keep people from accessing the crime scene. Police said one person was arrested for assault after a fight broke out as officers waited for detectives to arrive.
Another person was arrested for failing to obey police commands when they crossed crime scene tape.
Salt Lake City police say the deadly shooting was the city’s 10th homicide this year.
Anyone with information that may help identify the suspect or help the investigation in any other way is asked to call SLCPD’s non-emergency number: 801-799-3000.
