The shooting struck a congregation that primarily serves Tongan members and renewed concerns about violence at houses of worship, even as police said the attack appeared to stem from a personal dispute and showed no signs of targeting the church.
A dispute among people attending a funeral erupted into gunfire Wednesday night in the parking lot of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation in northwest Salt Lake City, leaving two people dead and six others injured, police said. Investigators said the shooting grew out of a confrontation between people who knew each other.
The two people killed were identified as Vaea Tulikihihifo, 46, and Sione Vatuvei, 38. Five of the six injured remained hospitalized with police protection as of Thursday evening. No arrests had been made as of early that evening.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said investigators were struggling to build a complete picture of what happened because witnesses had not cooperated. Authorities said they did not know whether the shooting was gang-related. Police said they did not believe the attack was random or motivated by animus toward the church.
“Our houses of worship are sacred, whatever the affiliation,” Redd said Thursday. “We should all protect those spaces. We should all respect those spaces.”
The Funeral and Scene
The funeral that preceded the shooting was for a man identified by family on social media as Asi Sekona. Residents from an adjacent housing complex said they rushed outside after hearing the shots.
Brennan McIntire said he and his wife, Kenna, heard several loud gunshots from their apartment while watching television. He ran outside to see what had happened.
“As soon as I came over, I see someone on the ground,” he said. “People are attending to him and crying and arguing.”
Kenna McIntire came outside soon after.
“It was really heartbreaking to hear and see,” she said.
About 100 law enforcement vehicles responded to the scene, and helicopters flew overhead, according to police. Investigators said they were reviewing license plate readers and surveillance videos from nearby businesses in their search for suspects.
Church spokesperson Sam Penrod said the congregation was cooperating with law enforcement.
“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,” Penrod said.
Tongan Congregation
The red brick church in northwest Salt Lake City mostly serves Tongan congregants and holds regular worship services in their native tongue, according to its website.
Matthew Bowman, a Claremont Graduate University professor specializing in U.S. religious history, said the LDS church has maintained a significant presence in Tongan society for more than a century.
“Since the 19th century, the church has had a really, really prominent place in Tongan society. Depending on who you ask, somewhere between one-third and two-thirds of everybody who lives in Tonga are members of the LDS church,” Bowman said.
More than a quarter of the Tongan population in the United States resides in Utah, where the church is headquartered, according to census data. The state’s Tongan population is about 23,000, mostly concentrated in Salt Lake County.
Prior Attack on LDS Churches
The shooting came months after a former Marine killed four people and set ablaze an LDS church in Michigan in September, according to the Associated Press. The FBI determined that attacker was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against the church. Police said they do not believe the Salt Lake City shooting bears any connection to that prior attack.