A parking lot confrontation over a pair of black Air Force shoes ended with gunfire, a fistfight, and three victims scattered near 5500 West and 3500 South, and now two men are facing felony charges that could put them behind bars for decades. West Valley City police say the chaos began with a robbery and escalated into a riot before officers even arrived.
According to KSL News, 22-year-old Aliga Malual and 18-year-old Sandy Kuj were each charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of aggravated robbery, obstruction of justice, and causing a riot. Malual faces three additional counts of discharge of a firearm, according to the charging documents cited by the outlet. Investigators say officers responded to a report of a shooting in the parking lot and found three victims on scene, with one telling police he had been robbed and shot at.
Charging documents describe a scene that unraveled fast. A suspect took the victim’s possessions, including the black Air Force shoes, and another man pointed a gun at the victim, per the charging documents. Three men then tried to jump a second victim on the south side of the lot, while a third victim ended up fighting one of the men, and that second victim was shot at twice while running away, KSL reported.
Suspects Fled, One Tossed Gun Into Shopping Cart
As officers closed in, multiple suspects ran from the location, according to the charging documents. Kuj reportedly ran southbound through the parking lot before tossing the handgun into a shopping cart. Surveillance video reviewed by investigators showed Kuj holding a handgun in his right hand, and police later found him at a nearby laundry business and recovered the weapon from the cart…