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- Two 18-year-olds, Tesfaye Shabi and Brandon Hollins, have been arrested for their alleged involvement in a Kearns shooting.
- The incident involved a champagne sale turned robbery, resulting in a teen's death.
- Authorities are looking at the possibility that the shooter acted in self-defense.
KEARNS — Two more people have been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting in the parking lot at Kearns High School that allegedly resulted from a champagne robbery gone bad.
Tesfaye Mebratu Shabi, 18, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Tuesday for investigation of murder and aggravated robbery. A second male, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was also arrested and booked into juvenile detention for investigation of the same crimes. On Monday, Brandon Ray Hollins, 18, was arrested for investigation of murder and aggravated robbery.
Unified police say they have now rounded up all the people believed to have been involved in the incident.
A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed at the high school, 5525 S. Cougar Lane, at about 1:50 a.m. on Sunday. His name has not been released, but he is identified in arrest reports with the initials "T.V."
Unified police say another 18-year-old man was selling champagne from the trunk of his Chevy Malibu and had arranged to make a sale over social media. When the man went to the high school to meet his alleged buyer, a vehicle with four people pulled up, according to a police booking affidavit.
"(The champagne seller) exited his vehicle and moved to his trunk. As (he) did this, he looked inside of the suspect vehicle, believed to be a silver four-door passenger car, and saw a driver, a front-seat passenger and two males in the back seat, both wearing ski masks. The two males in the back seat of the vehicle exited the car, both carrying firearms," the affidavit states.
The man then grabbed his own gun and "began to shoot at the suspects who had come at him with their guns," according to the affidavit. The man continued shooting as he ran from the scene toward Cougar Lane and eventually flagged down police.
A total of 26 shell casings were recovered by investigators, according to a police booking affidavit.
Using school surveillance video and information from the Metro Gang Unit and Salt Lake City Gang Unit, Hollins was identified as a possible suspect, the affidavit states. A search warrant was served at Hollins' home, and a gun and ammunition were recovered. Investigators also found a bullet hole in the driver's door of his car, according to the affidavit.
"Detectives developed additional information throughout the course of the investigation that identified Tesfaye Shabi and (another male) as being involved in the robbery. Tesfaye Shabi was seated behind the driver in the rear passenger seat. Tesfaye had the .223 caliber firearm with him at the time of the robbery," the affidavit states.
"Tesfaye got out of the vehicle, along with T.V. (the other 17-year-old), said they got out of the car and shots were fired, and T.V. went down. Tesfaye got back into the car and said that 'T.V. is dead,'" according to the affidavit. "(The teen) said they circled around to T.V.'s body and touched his body. He said he was telling the others to pick him up so that they could take him to the hospital. (The teen) said T.V. had the AR pistol and they grabbed it prior to leaving the area."
The 17-year-old boy in the backseat did not get out of the car due to having a broken leg from being shot during a separate robbery on April 16, according to the affidavit.
Both Shabi and the other teen were taken into custody on Tuesday at a Salt Lake City alternative high school, the affidavit states. According to police, Shabi was also with the other male during the robbery in which he was shot in the leg and has "bragged to others about committing robberies. In both cases, firearms were used."
Unified police say the April 16 robbery happened outside Granite Credit Union, 3675 S. 900 East, at night after the bank was closed. Police were notified after the victim was dropped off at a local hospital. That case remained under investigation on Wednesday.
That same 17-year-old boy was also charged in January in 3rd District Juvenile Court with aggravated robbery for a carjacking at a convenience store at 1300 S. 500 East, according to charging documents. The charges state that the teen was with a second male and one of them "pointed a large black gun at and stated, 'I am possessing your vehicle,'" before both men got in the victim's vehicle and drove off.
The 18-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed T.V. was not arrested. Police say they are looking at the possibility that the shooting was done in self-defense, but the ultimate determination will be made by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.
