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SALT LAKE CITY — A man accused of shooting a passenger at a bus stop at random this week was sent to prison more than 10 years ago for stabbing a TRAX passenger, according to court records.
Shamar Frenyota Murchison, 35, whose last listed address in court records is the Utah State Prison, was arrested Tuesday for investigation of attempted murder, aggravated assault causing serious injury, transaction of a firearm by a restricted person, discharge of a firearm into a terminal, threatening to use a dangerous weapon in a fight, possession of drug paraphernalia and assault.
About 5 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to a shooting at a TRAX platform/bus stop at 188 W. 3900 South. A man who witnesses say yelled at passengers as they got off of a bus, pulled out a gun and fired a single shot without aiming it anywhere in particular, according to police.
One man was hit in the leg and transported to a local hospital in good condition.
"The single round penetrated through one of his legs and exited," according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.
Utah Transit Authority police were able to get a screenshot of Murchison from surveillance cameras shortly after the incident, the report states.
Related:
Man shoots stranger at a South Salt Lake TRAX station as passengers disembark a bus
One man is in the hospital and another is in jail after a stranger confronted passengers, shooting haphazardly and hitting one man in the leg.Prior to the shooting, investigators learned that Murchison "had punched a blind man who was exiting the bus. When confronted by other passengers, Murchison pulled a gun from his bag and fired one shot. A female witness stated that she thought Murchison had tried to shoot her because he had told her, 'I got something for you' prior to the shot," according to the report.
Murchison was spotted by police near a bus stop at 3875 S. 500 West and was arrested. When interviewed by detectives, who reported that he was in possession of drug paraphernalia, Murchison said he had been talking on his phone when "people began to 'crowd' him," and then someone stepped on him,' the report states.
He claimed, however, that at that point he walked away.
"I asked Murchison to tell me more about the gun that he had used and where he got the gun. Murchison stated that he did not have a gun and stated he did not know what I was talking about. Murchison then told me that he was going back to prison either way and did not want to talk anymore," the officer wrote in his report.
Murchison has a lengthy criminal history, including another incident at a TRAX station in 2006. On Sept. 22 of that year, Murchison stabbed a man in the chest after telling him he would not stab him if the man handed over all his belongings, according to charging documents.
He was originally charged with attempted aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, and later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. He was sentenced to up to five years in prison to run consecutively with a prison sentence he was given in a separate case.
