OREM, Utah — A shopper with a concealed weapons permit shot and killed a man who was trying to carjack a woman Saturday outside a Utah grocery store, officers said.
The 31-year-old male shooter was in Macey’s parking lot in Orem, 45 miles south of Salt Lake City, when he heard a woman’s screams as she was being pulled from her SUV by the suspect, investigators said.
The man told police he went to assist the woman, and the 27-year-old male suspect lunged at him in an attempt to grab his gun.
The man fired one round at the suspect, hitting him in the chest. The suspect later died at a hospital.
No other injuries were reported.
Police Capt. Ned Jackson said it appears the suspect was unarmed at the time, but several felony warrants had been issued for his arrest.
Jackson didn’t think the shooter would face charges but said the investigation is ongoing.
“He’s trying to assist this lady whose car is being stolen,” Jackson told KSL-TV. “He was fighting with her. He was trying to protect her. Then at the point the suspect comes to him, and he’s trying to take the gun from him, then he’s trying to protect himself.”
The names of the shooter and suspect were not immediately released.
The shooter had stopped at the store to buy food before going out for target shooting.
The suspect allegedly assaulted a woman earlier Saturday and drove to the Macey’s parking lot in a stolen pickup. Once there, he exited the truck and tried to carjack the woman at about 11:20 a.m., police said.
“That may be a reason he escalated a fight to the degree that it’s gone on today, and stealing cars to try to get away, because he has some felony warrants,” Jackson told KSL.
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