WEST VALLEY CITY - Police in West Valley City are investigating a shooting that occurred Friday night.
Police say a friend of someone living near 4710 West and 3380 South in West Valley City got into an argument with a man doing construction work in the area at around 6 p.m. Friday.
Officers responded to the civil dispute and calmed the situation, but less than 30 minutes later, police were called back to the scene on reports of shots being fired. The argument had escalated and the construction worker was shot once in the torso. The alleged shooter was identified as 29-year-old Bobby Devore.
"There were accusations of possibly some inappropriate comments made towards a juvenile female. I don't know if that's exactly what escalated this to a shooting, we're still working on that," said Lt. Michael Coleman, West Valley City Police Dept.
Devore's aunt says he was provoked into taking drastic measures because the victim had allegedly been harassing young children in the neighborhood.
"They were trying to get the kids to the windows of the houses, saying, "Mommy, come out, I like it.' And terrible things to them; to children that were 10 and 12 years old," she said.
She says Devore asked the men to stop, but when they refused, he allegedly grabbed his aunt's gun and shot one of them.
"He did what he thought was right and he was protecting them and they kept coming at him and he said, 'I will shoot you if you don't stop,' And they kept coming until he had to protect himself," she said.
Devore fled the scene immediately after the shooting. Local police agencies were put on alert and notified that Devore was possibly headed towards Wells, Nev., from Wendover, Utah, late Friday night.
Elko County Sheriff's deputies, US Marshals and Nevada Highway Patrol troopers were able to locate the vehicle believed to be driven by Devore in a Super 8 Motel in Wells, Nev. They took Devore into custody just after midnight Saturday.
He was transported to the Elko County Detention Facility and booked on attempted murder charges and for being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.
Police say that despite the alleged harassment, right now Devore is the prime suspect in an attempted murder case. They are still investigating exactly what happened.
"As this develops, hopefully some of those other details will become clear and we'll have a better idea of what exactly took place," said Lt. Mike Coleman, West Valley City Police Dept.
The victim is being treated at a trauma center but is expected to survive.
