So, we had a shooting in our apartment complex on Tuesday morning. (That's comforting.) Anyway, here's what happened: (taken from the Salt Lake Tribune)-A home invasion ended in a deadly spray of bullets early Tuesday when a Midvale man wrestled a gun from one of the intruders and opened fire on them.
As many as 10 people were waiting outside an apartment near 1000 East and Watercress Lane (6995 South) when a 26-year-old answered a knock on the door about 1:30 a.m., said Midvale police Sgt. John Salazar. Wielding guns and knives, they pushed their way into the apartment, fighting the man and stabbing him in the hand, Salazar said. The man fled the apartment, followed by several assailants.
Still inside were the man's two nieces, 14 and 22, and the 22-year-old's boyfriend. One of the intruders hit the older sister, angering her boyfriend, Salazar said.
The boyfriend, 23, fought with the man and took hold of his gun.
He began shooting in the apartment, hitting another intruder. The heavily tattooed 31-year-old man, carrying two knives and a gun, was shot three times, Salazar said. He died in the apartment as the other attackers fled.
"I heard the screaming and I heard the gunshots," said neighbor Arun Sayam.
At least four shots were fired inside the apartment and at least three more outside. Investigators say one of the bullets also struck a female attacker, leaving a trail of blood outside.
Salazar said none of the bullets fired entered any of the surrounding apartments at the Springs of the Country Woods complex.
"I'm amazed that no one else was hurt," he said.
David Sandford, who lives in a second-story apartment just yards from where the shooting occurred, said he was listening to the television and reading a book when he heard five shots.
Sandford went to his bedroom and grabbed his gun for protection.
"I just wasn't sure what was going on," he said.
Sandford then went to his balcony and saw several people run south and one person run north.
Sandford, who has lived at the complex for about a year, called the attack "kind of disturbing."
Other witnesses, some huddled behind a trash bin in the parking lot, told police one of the attackers ran into a downstairs garage. Police used an explosive to force their way in but didn't find anyone.
Later, investigators recovered a 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun and a .40-caliber handgun that had been tossed onto the roof of a nearby carport.
Police on Tuesday were still trying to determine a motive for the attack and confirm the identity of the man who was killed.
No arrests have been made.-Pretty scary stuff, eh??
This is the update: (taken from the Salt Lake Tribune) -A man police say was killed by one of his intended victims during a break-in at a Midvale apartment was a 31-year-old with a criminal history including car thefts and drug and gun possession.
The letters SAC are tattooed on his face -- the same letters used by the white supremacist gang Soldiers of the Aryan Culture.
And court records show he was charged in a similar home invasion attack two years ago.
But as details about Blake Jay Anderson were emerging Wednesday, investigators said they still haven't found any connection between him and the family in the apartment ambushed by Anderson and as many as nine others.
"I don't think the intruders knew what was on the other side of the apartment door," said Midvale police Sgt. John Salazar. "Everything we've been looking at looks like it was a case of mistaken identity."
The four people who lived in the apartment did not recognize their attackers, who fled when one of the victims wrested a gun from an intruder and opened fire, killing Anderson.
"We haven't found a motive yet," Salazar said. "The only suspect we have is the one we can't interview."
Despite Anderson's tattoo, police are not investigating the invasion as a possible hate crime, Salazar said. The assailants likely did not know their victims, two of whom are white and two of whom are Latino, said Salazar.
The victims -- an uncle, his two nieces and the boyfriend of one niece -- have fled the state, Salazar said. Police do not know where the family is, but a relative has contacted investigators and is relaying messages to and from the victims until they recuperate.
"They're not going back to that place," Salazar said of the apartment. "They've been through a lot."
Police are pursuing no charges against the 23-year-old who shot Anderson, Salazar said.
Any involvement by Anderson in the Soldiers of the Aryan Culture is unclear. Metro Gang Unit investigator Jeremy Poor said he has had no contact with Anderson, and U.S. Marshall's spokesman Michael Wingert said he was not documented as an SAC member when he was in federal custody on a firearms conviction for 30 months from 2004 through 2006 and again in 2007 and 2008. Salazar said Anderson was also not previously known to Midvale police.
At the time of his death, Anderson was wanted on a $25,000 bench warrant for failing to appear at a Friday sentencing hearing in 3rd District Court.
Anderson had served a year at the Utah State Prison -- from June 2003 until June 2004 -- after failing to comply with court-ordered probation in a handful of Salt Lake County cases, which included drug possession and three stolen car cases.
He also spent more than four years in a federal prison -- beginning in July 2004 -- for being a convicted felon in possession of a pistol.
Anderson was also a suspect in another violent home-invasion attack in January 2007.
In January 2007, Anderson and Anthony James Bolton, 34, broke down the front door of a Salt Lake City apartment and started fighting with the occupants, a man and woman, according to charging documents. When the woman tried to call 911, Bolton came at her with a knife. When the male victim tried to intervene, Anderson hit him over the head with an amplifier, court documents state. When the man collapsed from the blow, the two invaders fled.
They were stopped by police in a vehicle that contained black ski masks, gloves, cutting tools and drops of blood, according to court documents.
Anderson and Bolton were charged with first-degree felony aggravated burglary, and Anderson also was charged with third-degree felony aggravated assault. The case was dismissed two months later when the victims failed to show up from a preliminary hearing.
In the Monday attack, as many as 10 people were waiting outside the apartment when a 26-year-old answered a knock on the door at about 1:30 a.m., said Salazar. Wielding guns and knives, they pushed their way into the apartment, fighting the man and stabbing him in the hand, Salazar said. The man fled the apartment, followed by several assailants.
Still inside were the man's two nieces, 14 and 22, and the 22-year-old's boyfriend. One of the intruders hit the older sister, angering her boyfriend, Salazar said.
The boyfriend, 23, fought with the man and took hold of his gun. He began shooting in the apartment, hitting another intruder. The heavily tattooed Anderson, carrying two knives and a gun, was shot three times, Salazar said. Anderson died in the apartment as the other attackers fled.- Well, we are
ok. And we actually didn't even know about it til after I got to work on Tuesday. One of my cousins had text me asking if we were
ok because she saw what had happened at our apartment complex on the news. I was like, "What the heck are you talking about?" That was the first I had heard of it. So I pulled up Fox13's website and looked into it. It
happened in building 7 which is on the opposite side of the complex from us. We are in building 23. We didn't hear a thing. Nothing like this has ever really happened there... And we've been there for almost 4 years. Pretty crazy.
Anyway, I'll post again soon. :)
I am so excited that it is finally warm and 'summery' outside! I've gone to the pool a few times already, and gotten some color. I love being tan.
I took the doggies with me. Kale and Britt's backyard isn't fenced yet, so I had to keep Cecil and Reddick on leashes and attach them to the posts for the deck. Well, my youngest brother, Ev and his girlfriend, Nina were there too. Ev kept insisting that we let Cecil off the leash because he needs to 'learn' to stay by us... let me just tell you how well that worked. Cecil ran away... twice. There's a big field behind Kale and Britt's house, just unfinished land, which is where Cecil ran and Ev had to chase after him. Naughty dog. The second time he ran away, Ev caught up with him and stomped on his leash, which scared the crap out of him we think, because he turned around and started running back towards the house. And didn't run away again. Brat. They stayed in the yard the rest of the time. Which I was really suprised about. 
