Utah church shooting

---

In Salt Lake City, Utah, on January 8th, 2026, there was a shooting. A complicated crime scene and uncooperative witnesses have hindered Salt Lake City police efforts to further investigate the shooting that took place outside a funeral service at the Rose Park 5th Ward meetinghouse of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints house of worship. The shooting left two people dead and six injured, they were all adults. Of the six injured, three were in a critical condition, and the other three taken to the hospital in private vehicles, so their conditions were unknown. “"This should never have happened outside a place of worship. This should never have happened outside a celebration of life," Mayor Erin Mendenhall said, (BILLEAUD and SCHOENBAUM). Investigators say that the shooting erupted from a dispute between people who knew each other and were attending a funeral. As of Thursday the 8th, no arrests have been made. About 100 law enforcement vehicles were at the scene in the aftermath, and helicopters flew overhead. Police said they were reviewing license plate readers and surveillance videos in their search for suspects.

People outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the shooting. (Image from Associated Press)

Police have said that they do not believe the shooting was random, but they also don’t believe that it was motivated against Mormons. They also don’t know if the shooting was gang-related, and they are still looking for a motivation or cause of the shooting. “"We don't believe this was a targeted attack against a religion or anything like that," Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said,” (BILLEAUD and SCHOENBAUM). All of the people that were detained for questioning were all not considered suspects. According to the church's website, the two congregations that meet there are both Tongan, which is a Polynesian group of people. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Google Maps (Image from The Salt Lake Tribune)

About half of Utah’s 3.5 million residents are members of the Mormon faith and there are houses of worship like the one tucked into neighborhoods around the city and state. “"We extend prayers for all who have been impacted by this tragedy and express deep concern that any sacred space intended for worship should be subjected to violence of any kind," church spokesperson Sam Penrod said,” (BILLEAUD and SCHOENBAUM). The faith has been on heightened alert since four people were killed in a Michigan church in September and it was then set ablaze. The Michigan shooter was a former Marine. 

There is a nonprofit, often referred to by its abbreviation as PIK2AR, which has been focused on violence prevention, within Utah’s Polynesian communities. “As much as we’ve been working on violence prevention, we can see that there’s still a lot of work to be done in this area, violence is never the answer,” (Means et al.). After this was said investigators stated that they ““are not going to rest until the individuals responsible are brought to justice. Full stop. No matter where they go, we will find them,”” (Means et al.).

---

Works Cited

Associated Press. “Mass shooting outside Utah Mormon church grew from dispute between funeral goers: police.” ABC7, 8 January 2026, https://abc7.com/post/salt-lake-city-utah-news-mass-shooting-outside-lds-church-grew-dispute-between-funeral-goers-police-say/18373384/. Accessed 12 January 2026.

BILLEAUD, JACQUES, and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM. “Shooting that killed 2 and injured 6 at Salt Lake City church linked to people who knew each other.” AP News, 9 January 2026, https://apnews.com/article/utah-church-shooting-funeral-salt-lake-dcc63668aebf300be751e8f9e9cf9b7c. Accessed 12 January 2026.

Means, Sean P., et al. “2 dead, 6 wounded in shooting outside LDS church in Salt Lake City.” The Salt Lake Tribune, 8 January 2026, https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/01/07/lds-church-funeral-shooting/. Accessed 12 January 2026.

SCHOENBAUM, HANNAH. “Shooting in parking lot of Mormon church in Salt Lake City kills 2.” AP News, 8 January 2026, https://apnews.com/article/utah-church-shooting-funeral-salt-lake-3e97bd92c89629f65e7db9572ead2643. Accessed 12 January 2026.

---

Simon Story is a 11th grader at Poudre High School, and this is his first year with the Poudre Press. The column he is working on is about war. He is not currently involved in any school activities, but he has interests in filming, video games, and reading. Some of his plans for post-graduation are either going into a trade, or doing something in the food industry, or in IT.