SALT LAKE CITY — Police are still investigating what led to a 9-year-old being arrested after the shooting death of their 32-year-old family member last week.
The Tooele City Police Department said its officers were dispatched Friday night to a home in the area of 380 West Millcreek Way where a 32-year-old man was reportedly unconscious and bleeding from his head.
After arriving at the home, they say officers found the man with what looked like a gunshot wound to his head. He was transported to a Salt Lake area hospital where he later died.
On Wednesday, FOX 13 News spoke with Chris Bertram, a retired deputy chief of police.
"In the 34 years I've been directly involved in no criminal justice, I haven't heard of somebody this young," said Bertram.
While Bertram has no connection to this case, he spoke about what could happen next in the investigation.
"I think the emotional part of this investigation, for law enforcement and their investigators, is a little more than a normal investigation," said Bertram. "The investigation will expand as to how the child got the gun if it wasn't ... a family gun or a gun within the residence."
Bertram said the Tooele City Police Department would be using their resources, like reaching out to the state, and that state forensics are going to come out and do the crime scenes.
He also mentioned other unique factors.
"Because of the age of the child, interviewing the child, as a potential suspect or even a witness, will require a guardian to be there," said Bertram.
From a legal standpoint, FOX 13 News spoke with Clayton Simms, a local criminal defense attorney about what could potentially come next for the child.
"There is jurisdiction over an individual who's nine years old, so the juvenile court has jurisdiction over somebody who's under the age of 18, but over the age of eight," said Simms.
Under state statutes and codes, Simms says the child who was arrested would not be tried as an adult if this case were to go to court.
"They won't be sent to the adult court because that individual's under the age of 14," said Simms.
With a complex case and investigation like this, Bertram says information for the public may be hard to come by.
"The fact that it's a juvenile, a lot of things that are going go on in this investigation, potentially go on in juvenile court or private," said Bertram.
Tooele police are continuing to investigate this incident.
Right now, they have not released the gender of the child or the exact relation of the child to the family member who was killed. We also don't know at this time if the child will be charged.
