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Gene Kennedy reportingA massive search last night for two suspects nets some arrests, but not the ones police had hoped for. The real gunman is still on the run.
Witnesses said the shooter took off from the area of 3500 S. Redwood Rd. in a gold Acura.
Early Wednesday morning, police spotted a car similar to that description, and officers spent hours trying to catch the people in that vehicle.
But when it was all said and done, the hunt for the suspect ended much differently than investigators hoped.
As police searches go, this one took top priority. They had K-9s on the scene and police from multiple agencies. It all began after a South Salt Lake police officer spotted two suspicious men around 1:30 this morning.
Sgt. Mikal Wersland, South Salt Lake Police Dept.: "Another officer was doing some property checks at an apartment complex around 3800 South and 700 West and came upon two suspects that appeared to be doing vehicle burglaries. He turned a spotlight on them and they ran into their vehicle."
It was a vehicle similar to what witnesses saw leaving Wednesday's crime scene off Redwood Road, when, in a strip mall parking lot, an argument between two men led to a shooting. The victim took several bullets. Amazingly he survived, but the gunman got away by taking off in a gold Acura.
The robbery suspects jumped into a car matching that description.
Sgt. Mikal Wersland, South Salt Lake Police Dept.: "He chased them to approximately 1300 West and 3900 South, where they drove their car between two houses and a backyard. The two suspects then got out of the car and ran on foot."
The K-9s tracked them down and police arrested the two. They're in jail now, facing charges that aren't connected with last night's shooting. Police say the Acura was the right color, but a different model from that involved in the shooting.
The gunman is still on the run, but police feel confident it won't be long before they get their man.
West Valley Police say both the victim and suspect have gang-related backgrounds, but police do not believe this was a gang-on-gang crime.
