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Sarah Dallof reportingPeople fled a downtown nightclub after a man was shot in the head. It happened at Club Manhattan, at 400 S. Main St. in Salt Lake, around 2 a.m. Saturday. Police still are looking for the shooter.
Officers are not releasing the identity of the victim yet. He was in critical condition. Officers say they don't know why he was shot.
People panicked when they heard the gunshots and scrambled to get out of the club. Police were there within minutes. Lt. Isaac Atencio of the Salt Lake City Police Department said, "When they arrived, they found a male that had been shot in the head."
Officers struggled to clear the crowd, secure the scene, and allow paramedics to treat the 33-year-old victim. He was alive, in critical condition. The shooter was nowhere to be seen.
"We've got several descriptions from people but nothing concrete," Lt. Atencio said. Varied suspect descriptions are causing problems for police. They're still trying to locate witnesses, many of whom they believe fled after hearing the shots.
"We have a list of patrons there tonight because it is a private club, so hopefully from that list we'll be able to find more witnesses," Atencio said.
Club Manhattan advertises Friday night as Utah's longest-running hip-hop party at the club. Police say it has a long-running problem with fights, reports of shots fired, and other disturbances.
Lt. Dave Hoffman said, "We're there pretty much every weekend. It's common for us to be there Friday nights." "There are other clubs we respond to as well, but we're there a lot," he added.
For now police offer this advice: be safe, be responsible, and don't linger after a club closes. "When the party's over, the party's over," Hoffman said.
We've tried to contact the club multiple times tonight but have not heard back.
If you have any information about the shooting, please call Salt Lake City Police at (801) 799-3000.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
