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Amanda Butterfield ReportingIt was a weekend full of gang shootings in West Valley City. But it wasn't just other gang members that were targeted.
Imagine waiting at a stop light, say at Bangerter Highway and 41st South. A car full of gang members pulls up to you and starts firing, breaking windows, hitting you and your passengers. That's what happened to Brandon Lemon.
Brandon Lemon/Victim: "It went in my back, right below my clavical, I think."
A single bullet, fired by a man he'd never seen before, went right into Brandon Lemon's back.
Brandon Lemon/Victim: "I felt a burning sensation, and my shirt was wet."
Lemon says he was at the stop light when someone in the car next to him starting yelling. So Lemon rolled down his window, and someone in the other car started shooting.
Brandon Lemon/Victim: "First of all, I thought it was fire crackers until the windows started breaking."
Lemon and his passenger were both hit, but he was most worried about his mom sitting in the back.
Brandon Lemon: "I didn't know what to do. I was confused, didn't know what to do."
Lemon was able to drive a few blocks to a gas station for help. Police were able to catch the gang members they say shot Lemon.
Chantha Chhat and Alan Ratrisouk are now behind bars.
Captain T. Mclachlan/WVPD: "We're moving forward with charges of attempted criminal homicide."
Usually gang shootings involve other gangs. That's what happened in a West Valley neighborhood last night. Two rival gangs had a shoot-out. Dozens of bullets hit trees, cars, apartment buildings. It was a fight over territory.
But in the case of Lemon...
Captain T. Mclachlan/WVPD: "More than likely mistaken identity. They're out looking for a car. Theirs may have been similar."
So, what should you do if someone is yelling at you at a red light, trying to get your attention?
Captain T. Mclachlan/WVPD: "Don't do anything. Don't even acknowledge that they're there."
Something Lemon wishes he did. Now he'll have a permanent reminder of this shooting because the bullet is still in him. Doctors said it would cause more damage to remove it.
As for his passenger, he'll be in the hospital for several more weeks. He was hit in the hip and will have to go through rehab.
