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SALT LAKE CITY — A North Salt Lake man who was released from jail just over a month ago and is currently facing new felony drug charges has been arrested and accused of shooting a 7-Eleven employee in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
Jose Rodolfo Barajas-Macias, 25, of North Salt Lake, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail early Friday for investigation of aggravated robbery, shooting at a person and being a restricted person in possession of a weapon.
On Tuesday, Barajas-Macias walked into a 7-Eleven store at 414 E. 200 South.
"(He) took a pair of gloves from the shelf, put them on (and) took out a handgun from his pocket. (He) walked up to the clerk, shot him in the stomach, and left the store. This was all captured on the surveillance video from the 7-11 store," according to a police booking affidavit.
The clerk was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. His condition was later "upgraded" and he was stable, according to police.
At first, investigators thought the shooting may be the result of a robbery. Then detectives reported that the shooting was the result of an argument between the two men. On Friday, however, police said that the motive was still being investigated and that the clerk was shot "for no apparent reason." The gloves were stolen from the store, police said.
Other police agencies along with social media posts helped Salt Lake police identify Barajas-Macias as the suspected gunman. A search warrant was served Thursday night at a residence in Weber County and he was arrested by officers from Salt Lake City's Violent Criminal Apprehension Team and the Davis County SWAT team.
According to court records, Barajas-Macias was charged in Davis County's 2nd District Court in September with two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute and obstruction of justice.
In July, he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of child and in exchange, three counts of sodomy on a child were dismissed. A judge ordered him to be released from custody after his plea. He was sentenced on Sept. 12 — 10 days after being arrested in Davis County — to a term of one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison. But the prison sentence was suspended and Barajas-Macias was instead placed on four years of probation. He was also sentenced to over three years in the Salt Lake County Jail but was given credit for the time he had already spent in jail since his arrest from the 2020 incident, court records state.
A warrant was issued for his arrest on Oct. 19 for violating the conditions of his probation, according to court records. He was released from jail again on Nov. 16.
