SOUTH SALT LAKE — A man suffered critical injuries in a shooting in South Salt Lake Thursday night, and on Friday police officials identified a suspect.
Police have arrested Martin Mercardo Cuevas and booked him into jail on two counts of aggravated assault and eight counts of discharging a weapon in city limits.
The shooting occurred around 8 p.m. in the area of 200 E. Rigdon Ave, and officials said the incident began with a verbal exchange and then escalated into a physical conflict between some people at a home and another group that had pulled up to the house in a truck.
Timothy Macie was in the area when the shooting occurred.
“I was sitting on the back porch and I heard, I heard about six guns shots and then I heard a few more, as soon as I heard the first six I immediately called 911 and reported, said we had shots fired,” he said.
Sgt. Darin Sweeten of the South Salt Lake Police Department spoke about the shooting.
“At some point in time there were shots fired, there was one individual who was struck,” he said.
A statement of probable cause from the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office indicates that Cuevas admitted to an officer he had shot at an occupied vehicle. The document stated a total of eight rounds were fired during the incident.
Police officials said it appears that those involved in the dispute knew each other to some extent.
FOX 13 News will have more information as it becomes available.
