Murder charges filed months after shooting near Mormon center

California officials arrested a 32-year-old man on murder charges connected to a shooting outside a Mormon meetinghouse, according to a Monday statement from Salt Lake City police. Police identified John Uasike Jr. as the third suspect involved in the fatal January shooting that killed two people and injured six others outside a Mormon meetinghouse while a funeral service was being held inside.

Uasike is the first suspect tied to the shooting to receive murder charges. Police previously arrested and charged co-defendants Ryan Daniel Toutai and Ezekiel Isaiah Tai with felony obstruction of justice for their alleged involvement in the incident. They are presumed legally innocent until proven guilty in court.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill unsealed Uasike’s charges on Monday, which included two counts of first-degree murder, three felony firearms charges, and illegally possessing a firearm. Gun violence will not be tolerated in this community, especially at a place of worship, according to Gill’s statement.

Was the shooting connected to the church or the funeral taking place? The unsealed charges contained a detective’s summary of witness accounts about how the shooting seemed to arise from a fight in the parking lot. WORLD reached out to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office and the Salt Lake City Police Department for more details and did not receive timely responses.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s 2024 report in WORLD Magazine about the Latter-day Saints’ plan to build over a dozen new temples across the world.