“Our houses of worship are sacred whatever the affiliation,” he says. “We should all protect those spaces.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City police Chief Brian Redd gives an update on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, to the previous night’s shooting that occurred at a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse. Police spokesperson Glen Mills is at left.
The Wednesday night shooting outside a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse that left two dead and six wounded may have been tied to gang activity, Salt Lake City police Chief Brian Redd said in a morning-after update on the encounter.
Police responded at about 7:30 p.m. to the Rose Park 5th Ward meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 660 N. Redwood Road, in what was initially an active shooter call.
They have since identified the two men who died as 38-year-old Sione Vatuvei and 46-year-old Vaea Tulikihihifo.
“We again express our condolences to the families and those affected by this senseless tragedy,” Redd said at the early Thursday news conference. “This is still a very active investigation.”
No arrests have been announced and no suspects in the shooting have been formally identified. The department also issued a plea Thursday for any members of the public with information to come forward.
Though the investigation is ongoing, Redd reiterated that the shooting was not a targeted attack on Latter-day Saints. Nor, he added, do authorities believe there is a threat to the general public.
“Our houses of worship are sacred whatever the affiliation,” Redd said. “We should all protect those spaces. If communities are concerned, please reach out to the department.”
A second Latter-day Saint congregation, the Riverside 2nd Ward, also worships at the meetinghouse.
Redd said investigators are now searching for more than one shooter involved in what appears to have been an exchange of gunfire in the meetinghouse parking lot, stemming from a dispute between individuals attending a memorial service inside.
“There is indication that there were individuals at the scene that were potentially involved in gang activity,” Redd said. “But we don’t know the cause of the violence. That’s what we’re investigating. So we’re cautious to say this is a gang-related shooting.”
The Police Department’s gang unit was deployed Wednesday to the crime scene, Redd said.
Authorities have yet to name the wounded, but police confirmed all were adults and were hospitalized late Wednesday, with three reportedly in critical condition. One of the six, they said Thursday, has since been released.
Officers remain at the hospital with victims still being treated, Redd said, and are continuing to try to interview them.
Some “have been less than cooperative,” Redd said, adding that detectives were still working “to identify all who were involved in the incident and their roles in the matter.”
Police are also hunting for more than one vehicle that left the scene after the shooting, he said, though he declined to offer any descriptions of vehicles or suspects being sought.
Thus far, the chief added, the department has no indication that suspects have fled the state, though detectives continue to seek and process video from nearby surveillance cameras and from license plate readers at key intersections.
Redd vowed that police “will follow these individuals wherever they go.”
