2 Killed, 6 Injured in Shooting Outside Mormon Church

A shooting outside a church building in Salt Lake City left two people dead and six others injured on Wednesday. The shooting took place in the parking lot of a meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, Deseret News reports. Police said a funeral was taking place inside. Police said three of the injured are in critical condition and the condition of the other three is unclear because they were taken to hospitals by private parties. Authorities said no suspects were in custody, KUTV reported.

Feltch-Malohifo'ou, CEO of one of Utah's main Pacific Islander organizations, tells the Salt Lake Tribune that the church mainly serves Tongan congregants. She says the nonprofit she leads, Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources, has been trying to reduce violence among the state's Polynesian gangs, though it's not clear yet whether gangs were a factor in the shooting. "As much as we've been working on violence prevention, we can see that there's still a lot of work to be done in this area," she says.