Dispute over dog may have led to fatal Liberty Park shooting

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City police say an argument over a dog may have led to a fatal shooting in Liberty Park on Sunday.

Dylan Lee McDonald, 21, was arrested for investigation of murder.

On Sunday, just after 3:30 p.m., near 600 East and 1300 South, officers responded to a report of a shooting.

"Upon arrival, officers located the victim, M.R., with a gunshot wound to the chest. Medical personnel arrived a short time later and declared the victim deceased," a police booking affidavit states.

Additional information about the victim was not immediately available. Police said Monday they were still trying to contact the victim's family before releasing his name.

Witnesses pointed out McDonald to police arriving on scene, and they took him into custody. While being detained, officers say McDonald "made several utterances," including making claims that "he saw the victim threaten a lady with what he believed was a gun earlier in the day" and that "McDonald said he was trying to get a dog from the victim ... that actually belonged to someone else," according to the affidavit.

McDonald claimed that during the confrontation, the victim slapped him and then "was reaching for something, so he pulled his gun and shot the victim," the affidavit states.

Investigators found a single shell casing in the area of the shooting and "a black lighter shaped as a small pistol" near the victim, according to police.

Several witnesses confirmed to police that the two men had been arguing over a dog prior to the shooting and that the victim pushed and slapped McDonald.

"The witnesses indicated they never saw the victim reach for anything," according to the affidavit. "One witness indicated that the victim was unwrapping the dog leash from his hand when the shot was fired. The same witness indicated that immediately after the shooting, he removed a black lighter shaped as a pistol from the victim's pants pocket, showed McDonald that it was a lighter and not a gun, before throwing it to the ground."

After he was taken to the Salt Lake City Police Department for further questioning, McDonald said that "he wished he wasn't blind, he thought his prescription glasses had been slapped off his face, and all he saw after being slapped was blurriness," the affidavit states.

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