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Gene Kennedy reportingNeighbors run for cover as rival gangs exchange gunfire. It sounded like a modern Wild-West shootout, as bullets riddled an apartment complex in West Valley City.
Cheryl Hoppe, Shooting Witness: "You know our company told us this was a good place to live and then these people started moving in and it's turned into a Chicago ghetto."
Folks living in a West Valley apartment complex say gang violence has plagued their neighborhood for three days now.
The worst of it came Sunday afternoon when members of rival gangs starting shooting across the street at each other.
Apparently members of the rival gang live in the same apartment complex.
Residents we've talked to seem to think this is a territory battle between the Alley Boys and the Old Laotian Gang.
Fifty to 60 shots were fired. Some gang members hunkered down between apartment complexes on Lake Park Drive. Others were across the street, firing back and forth at each other.
Bullets hit cars, trees, and walls of apartments. Dozens of neighbors heard round after round fired, coming from rifles and pistols.
Cheryl Hoppe, Shooting Witness: "It's very personal, it's very scary..."
Cheryl Hoppe's biggest concern: That her three-year old boy Mikile is safe.
Cheryl Hoppe / Shooting Witness: "The other day when he was in the pool, it was terrifying."
Just over a fence only feet from the portable pool, a gang member with a rifle, shooting at a rival gang member across the street.
Cheryl Hoppe / Shooting Witness: "The shot hit that window and I yanked him and literally drug him out of his pool."
While Hoppe and her son ran for cover, Bevan Hardy peered out his window and saw the suspect with the rifle.
Bevan Hardy / Shooting Witness: "And he was just sitting on his knees cranking out shot after shot after shot. They're right below me."
Sgt. Steven Angell, West Valley Police Dept.: "We received information that one of them had an assault rifle, the other had a hunting rifle with a scope on it."
All this on a Sunday afternoon; when dozens of people got out of their apartments to beat the heat.
Sgt. Steven Angell / West Valley Police Dept.: "Just the fact that no one was hurt is really miraculous."
Especially when you consider that a bullet went through an apartment window. Whether it's a miracle or just plain luck, Cheryl Hoppe says she's ready to move.
Cheryl Hoppe / Shooting Witness: "I can't raise my son with shots being fired only 10 to 15 feet from our door."
Witnesses identified 18 year-old Sarounn Ren as one of the three shooters. West Valley City Police arrested him yesterday. He faces several charges including attempted homicide.
West Valley Police say they do have other suspects and expect to make additional arrests as their investigation continues.
