Police looking for gunman in Tooele parking lot confrontation

Police looking for gunman in Tooele parking lot confrontation

(Mike Radice/KSL-TV/File photo)


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TOOELE — Police were looking Thursday for a man accused of firing a shot at another man outside a convenience store.

No one was injured in the incident that police say happened about 1:30 a.m. in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven at 975 N. Main in Tooele.

A 32-year-old man told detectives he got into an argument with a man and a woman in the parking lot, said Tooele police officer Tanya Turnbow. Turnbow did not know Thursday how the argument started or whether the two parties were acquainted with each other.

As the couple started to drive away in a white Pontiac, the man who was driving pointed a handgun out of the window at the other man and fired one round, Turnbow said. She did not know from how far away the shot was fired but noted there were two gas pumps between the gunman and the intended victim.

Police were unsure Thursday where the round ended up. No one was injured.

A grainy surveillance image of a man police identified as Vernal Wright, the suspect in a shooting that happened early Thursday morning outside this 7-Eleven store. (Photo: Tooele Police Department)
A grainy surveillance image of a man police identified as Vernal Wright, the suspect in a shooting that happened early Thursday morning outside this 7-Eleven store. (Photo: Tooele Police Department)

Based partly on store surveillance, investigators believe the gunman is Vernal Wright, 38, of Tooele, according to Turnbow who said he should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on his location is encouraged to call Tooele police at 435-882-5600 or text “TOOELETIP" plus their message to 274637 (CRIMES).

Wright is described as white, approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 240 pounds with tattoos on his hands, arms, neck and his shaved head.

According to court records, he was sentenced to the Utah State Prison in 2008 for unlawful use of an ATM card and illegal possession of a firearm. He was also sentenced that same year for theft by receiving stolen property. In that case, charges of fleeing from police were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Wright's record of mainly drug- and fraud-related convictions dates back to 1999, according to court records.

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