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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake police are looking for a man with a violent past in connection with a homicide over the weekend.
Francis Lee Ragsdale, 30, was named a suspect Monday afternoon in the shooting death of 25-year-old David Lawrence Burwell.
The incident began early Saturday when two groups got into a fight at the Wasted Space bar, 342 S. State, according to police. The quarrel continued to the lower level of a parking structure at 55 E. Exchange Place.
In the parking garage, someone pulled out a gun about 12:40 a.m. and fired several shots, according to police. One man was hit and killed. Police have not said whether Burwell was the intended target.
The gunman drove away before officers arrived.
Police say Ragsdale should be considered armed and dangerous. According to court records, he has been charged a couple of times this year with assault in domestic violence related incidents, and was charged last week with threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend if she testified against him in those pending cases.
In 2012, he was convicted to being a restricted person in possession of a gun. In that incident, prosecutors say Ragsdale was involved in a shooting at a Rancheritos restaurant. In 2007, he was convicted in 3rd District Court of theft, a second-degree felony, for a crime he had committed two years earlier when he was 16, according to court records.
Sunday night, investigators announced that they want to question Thalwallkelah Lamar Washington, 38. Police say he may be driving a black 2007 Mercedes Benz with California license plate 7XCP832. As of Monday, police were still looking for Washington.
Detectives are also seeking possible cellphone video of the fatal confrontation.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 801-799-3000.
