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KEARNS — Police are investigating a shooting that left a 49-year-old man dead Saturday.
Officers were called to 5446 S. Nez Perce Drive (5080 West) around 5:45 p.m. and found a man dead inside the home, Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal said. Witnesses told police they saw a heavy-set Polynesian man in his 20s or 30s flee from the scene in a silver, four-door passenger car with a sun roof. He was wearing a red shirt and had long, curly hair pulled into a ponytail.
Hoyal said that while the motive for the shooting is not known, they do not believe it was random.
"Right now we believe that this individual was probably targeted," he said. "The suspect came here for a reason, but we are doing everything we can to locate the individual responsible for this crime."
Detectives were at the scene speaking with witnesses and following leads late Saturday.
"Our detectives are going to be out here throughout the night processing the scene," Hoyal said. "It's going to take several hours for them to ultimately get a search warrant for the home (and) process the home."
Police did not release the victim's identity, as they were working to notify his family of his death.
A man who identified himself as "Jacob" said he lived next to the man who was killed for over two years. He described him as a quiet, kind man who liked to work on cars and motorcycles.
"I couldn't think of anybody who would want to hurt him," Jacob said. "It's definitely really sad especially because he was very welcoming to anybody who wanted to come over. ... It's very shocking he would be hurt in this way."
Anyone who may have information about the shooting is asked to call police at 801-743-7000.
