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- Salman Farhan Ahmed, 21, was arrested over the weekend and accused of killing a man in South Salt Lake.
- Ahmed also assaulted two women, according to police.
- Ahmed was charged with murder in 2022 in a separate killing but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and served no prison time.
SOUTH SALT LAKE — A 21-year-old man was arrested over the weekend and accused of shooting an 18-year-old man in the back, killing him, and assaulting two women.
This marks the second time in less than three years that Salman Farhan Ahmed has been arrested in connection with a murder investigation.
Ahmed was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Sunday on suspicion of murder, shooting a gun causing serious injury, being a restricted person in possession of a gun, theft, obstruction of justice, aggravated assault and two counts of assault.
The incident happened about 11:40 p.m. Saturday in a parking lot near 2531 S. 400 East. South Salt Lake police say Ahmed was driving a vehicle with three women and an 18-year-old man when he got into an argument with one of the passengers.
"(Ahmed) stopped and exited the vehicle to confront a female passenger and punched two female passengers in the face. (Ahmed) then retrieved a firearm from the front driver seat area of the vehicle and threatened to shoot one of the female passengers," according to a police booking affidavit.
The 18-year-old man in the vehicle then tried to step in and stop Ahmed from assaulting one of the women.
"A physical fight began between (Ahmed) and the male passenger and (Ahmed) fired a single fatal shot into the male passenger's back. The male passenger collapsed from his injuries. (Ahmed) closed the doors to the vehicle and drove away, leaving the injured male passenger and three female passengers in the parking lot," the affidavit states.
The 18-year-old man, whose name had not been released as of Monday morning, was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. On Sunday, police asked for the public's help in locating Ahmed, whom they called a "person of interest" in the fatal shooting.
Several hours later, Ahmed was located and arrested. He "admitted to destroying his cellphone following the shooting, thus destroying valuable evidence," according to the affidavit.
Ahmed was sentenced in December to two months in jail and placed on three years of probation for being convicted of drug distribution. Because of his probation status, he is not allowed to possess a gun.
In that case, Ahmed tried to sell drugs to an undercover officer in Davis County in July of 2023 and then sped away at 100 mph before being arrested at a rest stop, according to court records. At the time of his arrest in that case, Ahmed was wearing an ankle monitor because he was on pre-trial release for a charge of murder.
In 2022, prosecutors say Ahmed was part of a confrontation between two rival gangs in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven, 4051 S. State, during which Talib "Kunda" Ahmed, 18, was shot four times and killed.
Ahmed was initially charged with murder. The case was scheduled to go to trial several times before Ahmed accepted a plea deal in 2024 and pleaded guilty to lesser charges of illegal discharge of a firearm and being a restricted person in possession of a weapon, second-degree felonies. His prison sentence was suspended and he was sentenced to a little under two years in jail, with credit being given for most of that for the time he had already served, court records state. He was also placed on four years of probation.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told KSL.com on Monday that the problem with the 2022 case for prosecutors was that, despite multiple people being at the shooting, all of the witnesses claimed to have no memory or limited memory of the event, and some simply refused to cooperate at all. Because of that and other evidence issues, the plea deal was offered.
However, Gill noted that Ahmed could still serve his suspended prison sentence of three to 15 years in that case if he is found to be in violation of his probation. Additionally, he could also be ordered to serve up to a 15-year prison sentence that was suspended in his Davis County conviction. Furthermore, the judge in that case ordered his prison sentence to be served consecutively with the 2022 Salt Lake County conviction.
Gill's office will screen potential charges on Ahmed's latest arrest this week.
