Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SOUTH SALT LAKE — It only took 1 minute and 17 seconds for a random confrontation between two people who had never met each other to end in a murder, police say.
Joshua Jaeshawn Park, 20, of Salt Lake City, was charged in 3rd District Court Thursday with murder, a first-degree felony, for the shooting death of rival gang member Alan Hernandez Lopez, 16, on a sidewalk outside of the teen's school just moments after he left the building.
On Feb. 13, Lopez had just left the Granite Step School, 3134 S. 300 East, when Park drove by. Lopez "appear(ed) to make a signal at the driver with his left hand," which caused Park to make a U-turn and pull up next to him, according to charging documents.
"Park stated they traded gang-related insults and threats, then Park fired two shots," the charges state.
The confrontation escalated very quickly.
Lopez walked out of school just after 4 p.m. "Alan had just left the classroom and began walking north," a search warrant affidavit unsealed this week states. "Alan made it less than 150 feet from the school before he was shot down."
Park drove by Lopez one minute after he left school, the warrant states. Just four seconds after pulling up next to Lopez, shots are fired. The shooting was captured on the school's surveillance system, and Park was seen driving away on the surveillance cameras of several nearby businesses.
Park's criminal history as an adult is relatively minor, including misdemeanor drug convictions and driving on a suspended license, according to court records.
