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WEST VALLEY CITY — An 18-year-old man was arrested Wednesday after police say he shot at a teen during a fight in a McDonald's parking lot.
Carlos David Medina-Villa was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault, causing a riot and illegal discharge of a firearm.
On Monday, Medina-Villa and his friends got into an argument with another group of teens inside the fast-food restaurant which then moved into the parking lot, according to a police booking affidavit. In the parking lot, two teens began to fight.
"During the fight, the two juveniles fell down to the ground. (Medina-Villa) removed a handgun from his waistband, pointed the firearm at the back of the head of one of the juveniles from the other group and fired a round, missing the juvenile. (He) then pointed the firearm in the air, as multiple people started running away and fired several more rounds straight up," the affidavit states.
Detectives used surveillance video to identify Medina-Villa as the gunman.
After police tracked down and questioned Medina-Villa, he claimed "his friend had agreed to fight another person in the other group, but during the fight he thought he observed somebody with a knife, so he produced his firearm and fired off the round" and also "as he pointed the firearm at the juvenile, he stated, 'Calm down, or I'll shoot,'" according to the affidavit.
However, investigators say multiple witnesses were interviewed and "no mention of a knife was ever made."
Detectives believe several documented gang members were involved in the confrontation.
