The gunfire was intended to stop an armed man who allegedly ran toward the crowd with a rifle.
The Salt Lake City Police Department said on Sunday that a man they believe was an innocent bystander was shot and killed during a “No Kings” anti-Trump protest in the city.
Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, a 39-year-old resident of Utah, was fatally shot while attending protests against federal immigration enforcement raids in downtown Salt Lake City on June 14. Police said that Ah Loo was not the intended target of the gunfire.
The gunfire was intended to stop 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, after witnesses said he began running toward the crowd of protesters with a rifle.
Two men who police said were “apparently part of the event’s peacekeeping team” reported seeing Gamboa separate from the crowd and move behind a wall, where he allegedly pulled out an AR-15-style rifle from a backpack and began manipulating the weapon.
Witnesses told police that when the security team members drew their handguns and ordered Gamboa to drop his weapon, the suspect instead raised his rifle in firing position and ran toward the crowd gathered on State Street, prompting one of the security team to open fire.
Panic spread as hundreds of protesters ran for safety, said police. Ah Loo received medical aid at the scene and was sent to the hospital, but he later succumbed to his injuries.
Gamboa was arrested and is being held at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on murder charges. Police also detained the two security team members to help in the investigation.
Police said it remains unclear why Gamboa pulled out his rifle after separating from the crowd or what led him to run when confronted by the security team
Authorities established probable cause that Gamboa had “acted under circumstances that showed a depraved indifference to human life, knowingly engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of death, and ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member.”
“Our detectives are now working to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said in the statement. “We will not allow this individual act to create fear in our community.”
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Updated: Man accused of murder at Salt Lake City ‘No Kings’ protest is a radical leftist
