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SALT LAKE COUNTY -- A young woman is in critical condition after a shooting in the Millcreek area early Thursday morning. Police say the shooting was the result of an altercation in the street between two groups.
Investigators believe all the people involved knew each other, most likely through drugs, but officers are not calling the shooting gang-related.
They are still looking for suspects in the shooting, but have very little to go on.
Unified police received a call around 1:20 a.m. from neighbors in the 800 East block of 4280 South who heard multiple gunshots outside.
"It was like a series of four then a second went by and there was another series of four or five more," said neighbor Hubert Anderson.
One of the bullets traveled to the next block over and shattered Barbara Douglas' bedroom window.
Lt. Don Hutson, with the Unified Police Department, said, "The woman who lives in that particular home was sleeping, and her window was suddenly shattered when she was hearing gunshots. It appears that a bullet flew through her front window and went through her bedroom, just above her head."
Douglas described her terrifying experience to KSL News.
"My heart was pounding out of my chest," she said. "A little voice said, ‘Don't sit up. Don't sit up.' And that's right when that bullet came through the window."
She said she's lucky she didn't get hit.
"If I sat up. it probably would have been this close to my head," Douglas said. "You can see the bullet and how far my body was from the bullet. I mean, it just skimmed right by me."
When officers arrived, they saw people in the street, but not the victim.
Apparently the 19- or 20-year-old woman was shot several times. Her friends drove her to St. Mark's Hospital.
The hospital alerted police that the woman was there, and she was then flown to University Hospital.
Police say the area is a known drug drop-off point on the east side. Neighbors are aware of the activity but say this violence is unusual.
"I can't describe how scary it is to realize that bullets are flying so close by," said Anderson.
Officers found clothes in the street about a block from the shooting. Neighbors say when they went outside, they saw several vehicles driving off.
"We've received vehicle descriptions all the way from an SUV, to a small red car, to a blue car, to a Cadillac," said Hutson. "There are numerous vehicle descriptions, and we just don't know which side of the incident all of these vehicles belong."
No suspect descriptions were available.
Police say the victim is not being fully cooperative. Her injuries are not life-threatening.
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Story compiled with information from Nicole Gonzales and Andrew Adams.
