A group of people
escorted from a Salt Lake nightclub were caught in the middle of
gunfire just after midnight Monday morning.
According
to witnesses, a fight inside the club became more violent
outside. Security guards at El Calor at 966 S. Redwood Road say
everyone initially left peacefully, but things quickly went
downhill.
Officers say
bullets hit two men while a carload of people was driving away.
When police arrived, the scene was nearly pandemonium. A group
surrounding a white SUV on Redwood Road was yelling for help,
while another crowd was gathered by the nightclub entrance.
Three men took
off when officers arrived, hopping a fence and hiding in a used
car lot next door. Police chased after those men and officers
aren't sure if they are suspects or victims.
Lt. Craig Gleason
of the Salt Lake City Police Department said, "Being shot at
will make you run and I get that. So it could be that they have
a perfectly viable story about where they were and why they
acted."
While officers
were trying to catch up with those men, paramedics treated two
others who were shot in the head. Their SUV was riddled with
with bullets and covered in blood. It hit a cement barricade
while driving away, crippling it just a hundred yards from the
shooting.
The victims were
originally listed in critical condition at University and LDS
hospitals, but have since been upgraded to serious condition.
Half a dozen
others were injured in the fight.
There were more
than 100 people were inside when the fight happened, so officers
have plenty of stories to sort through. As of Monday morning,
they still have few answers about who shot at the people in the
SUV. No weapon has been found.
Police tell ABC 4
News they have been called to the El Calor club before, but it's
by no means a hot-spot for violent activity.
