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WEST VALLEY CITY -- Police are still searching for a shooter who killed a West Valley City man Saturday night. They're going off of very little information and no witness accounts.
Many people heard the shots from inside their own homes, but by the time they either came outside or looked out their window, the shooter had already disappeared.
Neighbor Alberto Linan said, "We were just ready to go to bed and we heard the shots. My kids, my girls, started screaming."
Four shots brought out the whole neighborhood.
Another neighbor said, "I walked to my window, and I saw what's going to happen, and I saw the guy laying on the ground. I called 911 right away."
"It's something you don't want your kids to see. You go through the stuff. My kids went over there, and I sent them back home, and said, ‘You don't need to see this,'" Linan said.
Around 11:30 p.m., 35-year-old Jose Venegas was with his family at a home near 3200 Brook Way Drive. His family says he went outside to get in his car to leave. That's when they heard gunshots. By the time they got outside, the shooter was gone.
West Valley City police Capt. Tom McLachlan said, "It's going to be a tough case because there are no witnesses. The family was inside the house. They heard gunfire and went out and found him."
Officers and a medical helicopter arrived shortly after. He was flown to University Hospital and died around 3 a.m. Sunday after emergency surgery.
Residents say the neighborhood is usually quiet and this shooting is definitely a surprise.
Now investigators are tasked to find out who did this and why.
"It has some major impact here, but with the lack of information we have right now there's just not an awful lot to say," McLachlan said.
Police say they don't have a significant history with the victim.
If you have any information that could lead to the shooter's arrest, West Valley City police would like to hear from you.
E-mail: ngonzales @ksl.com
