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Shots were fired after an apparent case of road rage. It happened before noon today on a busy street in South Salt Lake. No one was hurt, but police are still looking for the shooter.
Police still don't know how this all started, but it got to the point where shots were fired from an alley.
One bullet crossed two lanes of traffic and hit a banner. At first, Mark Neuenschwander didn't think anything when he heard screeching tires outside the boat shop where he works. He said, "We hear stuff like that all the time, but what was odd, they went up the alley and the car stopped. Then a black car came up and stopped."
Police say the two cars first crossed paths at 3900 South and Main Street. Gary Keller, with the South Salt Lake Police Department, said, "This is not a random act. These guys got into a road rage, started bumping cars."
They followed each other a few blocks north to 3500 South. Keller said, "After they made it down to this location, two males got out of the vehicles, one out of each vehicle and a fight ensued."
Police say someone pulled out a gun and fired a shot. But witnesses say they heard two gunshots. Neuenschwander said he heard the gunshots. He said, "It wasn't a backfire or something." He said it happened quickly and they were gone.
One bullet hit a banner on a chain link fence. Another ricocheted off a boat on a sales lot. Salesman Jerry Grieves points out a bullet hole in a sign and damage to the hulls of two boats. Grieves says he heard two shots. He said, "I came up to the front of the yard here as a guy was running back to the shop area, yelling ‘They're shooting at me, they're shooting at me.'"
Police say this is what can happen when things get heated and emotions get out of control. "I tell everybody, and I teach traffic school, just to let it go, turn the other way," Keller said.
Neuenschwander said, "You don't want to upset the hornet's nest."
No one's been arrested. Police were interviewing the driver who ran for help. The suspected shooter and another man were in a gold car, possibly a Mercury or Crown Victoria. Police are still looking for them.
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
