Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
KEARNS — The family of a man shot at a South Salt Lake TRAX station last week is sharing their sadness over what unfolded, as they work to get support for his recovery.
They say Thomas Yazzie was running errands for his younger brother when the shooting broke out as he went to catch the TRAX train. Now they're devastated after he barely survived and hope the community will help with his medical care.
Going through photos on her phone, Taelyn Yazzie pulled up photos of her close-knit family in her Kearns home on Wednesday.
"There was all of us on a camping trip," she said, pointing to a picture of Taelyn Yazzie, her two sisters, grandmother Francine Yazzie, and uncle Thomas Yazzie.
When Taelyn Yazzie scrolls through photos from the past few days, they differ dramatically.
"He's very, very swollen," she said, looking at a photo of Thomas Yazzie in a hospital gown, lying in a bed with the tubes hooked to medical devices that are keeping him alive. "This one is the life support."
Her uncle, she explained, was going to take the TRAX train to pick up a few things for his brother and her other uncle, Willis, last Thursday. Taelyn and Francine Yazzie explained that Willis was hospitalized from a seizure and brain aneurysm, and was expected to be released on Thursday.
They said Thomas Yazzie had been by Willis' side.
Francine Yazzie was in Louisiana helping her third son recover from a work injury when she got a call from police Thursday evening telling her that her son Thomas Yazzie had been shot and it wasn't looking good.
"When I first heard he was shot, I just went into shock," Francine Yazzie remembers. "I started shaking. I didn't know what to do."
She immediately called Taelyn Yazzie.
"Her first response was, 'What is happening? What is happening? Why is this happening to us?" Francine Yazzie said.
According to UTA police, it appeared there was some sort of disagreement between three people at the Meadowbrook TRAX station in South Salt Lake. Someone pulled out a gun, shooting Thomas Yazzie and a second person.
The niece and mother would later find out, after the suspect turned himself in, that the alleged shooter was a juvenile. The women say they were told he is 16 years old.
They have no idea what would have happened, that would have led to a seemingly random person firing shots.
"He was at the wrong place at the wrong time," Francine Yazzie said of her son. "I don't know who this kid is."
"I definitely have my feelings towards the situation," Taelyn Yazzie said. "But it does make me sad wondering what kind of living situation that kid is living in, to make him be OK with doing something like that."
Taelyn rushed to the hospital, and now she and Willis are the ones who are sitting by Thomas' side. Her uncle was shot in the stomach twice, she said, and has already had five surgeries.
The women said doctors didn't think Thomas would make it that first night.
Francine Yazzie flew back from Louisiana. She said she's been holding Thomas Yazzie's hand, as he's sedated and intubated.
"I just left it in God's hands," Francine Yazzie said, tearing up. "Just asked him to be with us."
As the tight-knit family tries to grasp why this happened, they focus on how Thomas Yazzie can get through this.
"It is day-by-day," Taelyn Yazzie said. "It's going to be a very long process."
The family says Thomas Yazzie works seasonally and doesn't currently have health insurance. They imagine he'll be stuck with the medical bills from that shooting. Taelyn Yazzie started a GoFundMe* to help Thomas Yazzie in his recovery.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
