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SALT LAKE CITY — A Washington state man accused of shooting a man in his Salt Lake apartment — possibly in retaliation for a shooting at Hunter High School — now faces several felony charges.
Charles Wight, 20, of Auburn, Washington, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with attempted murder and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies; and discharge of a firearm causing injury, a second-degree felony.
Just before 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 19, a 24-year-old man heard something break at his apartment, near 750 N. 900 West, and went to investigate. Police say two men had kicked in the door to the apartment and the resident saw them standing at the end of his hallway.
A man, later identified as Wight, was holding a gun and shot the victim in the leg, according to charging documents.
The victim told detectives that prior to the shooting, Wight had been messaging his wife on social media and "threatening to shoot them" while accusing the wife's brother of "shooting Wight's family member in a previous incident near Hunter High School," the charges state.
The brother had also "been receiving death threats by text and social media by Wight," according to the charges.
The court documents do not specify when that "previous incident" occurred, but just six days earlier, two Hunter High School football players were shot and killed and another student shot and injured near the high school in West Valley City. In that case, a 14-year-old boy is charged with two counts of murder and accused of gunning down two of his classmates who he said had been harassing him.
Police also believe that a carjacking reported in West Valley City approximately 20 minutes prior to the Jan. 9 shooting may be related. As of Monday, no charges related to that incident had been filed.
Prosecutors have requested that Wight be held in jail without bail pending trial, noting that Wight "continued to send threatening messages to the victim's family after the shooting stating he was going to return to finish the job and kill the victim," the charging documents say.
