The deadly shooting outside a Utah church grew out of a dispute between
funeral goers, police say
[January 09, 2026]
By JACQUES BILLEAUD and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A complicated crime scene and uncooperative
witnesses hindered Salt Lake City police efforts to investigate a fatal
shooting outside a house of worship belonging to The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The shooting in a church parking lot Wednesday night left two people
dead and six injured, including five who remained hospitalized with
police protection Thursday. Investigators said the shooting erupted from
a dispute between people who knew each other and were attending a
funeral.
No arrests had been made as of early Thursday evening. Authorities say
they do not know whether the shooting was gang-related and that they are
having trouble getting witnesses to cooperate.
Police do not believe the shooting was random or motivated by animus
against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as
the Mormon church.
“Our houses of worship are sacred, whatever the affiliation,” Salt Lake
City Police Chief Brian Redd said Thursday. “We should all protect those
spaces. We should all respect those spaces.”
All the shooting victims were adults. Vaea Tulikihihifo, 46, and Sione
Vatuvei, 38, were identified as the two people killed.
The red brick church in northwest Salt Lake City mostly serves Tongan
congregants and holds regular worship services in their native tongue,
according to its website.
Latter-day Saint missionaries first arrived in Tonga in the early 1890s,
according to the church’s website. At first, they had little success and
the mission closed in 1897. But a decade later, missionaries opened a
school in Neiafu, Tonga’s second-largest town, and began preaching
across the islands. Dozens of other schools were started by missionaries
and seven remain open. The church's membership in Tonga has grown to
68,000 and 175 congregations.
“Since the 19th century, the church has had a really, really prominent
place in Tongan society. Depending on who you ask, somewhere between
one-third and two-thirds of everybody who lives in Tonga are members of
the LDS church,” said Matthew Bowman, a Claremont Graduate University
professor specializing in U.S. religious history.
Today, more than a quarter of the Tongan population in the U.S. resides
in Utah, where the church is headquartered. The state's Tongan
population is about 23,000 and is mostly concentrated in Salt Lake
County, according to census data.
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People hug each other after a fatal shooting in a parking lot of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP)
On Wednesday night, residents from a housing complex next to the
church flooded outside to help victims and console dozens of people
who had been attending a funeral for a man identified by family on
social media as Asi Sekona. Several family members could not
immediately be reached for comment.
Brennan McIntire said he and his wife, Kenna, heard several loud
gunshots from their apartment next to the church parking lot while
watching TV. He jumped off the couch and ran outside in flip-flops
to see what happened.
“As soon as I came over, I see someone on the ground,” he said.
“People are attending to him and crying and arguing.”
Kenna McIntire came outside soon after and was rattled at the sight
of first responders lifting an unconscious woman into an ambulance
while people huddled around and sobbed.
The couple said they hear gunshots in their neighborhood almost
daily, but never right outside their door.
“It was really heartbreaking to hear and see,” Kenna McIntire said.
About 100 law enforcement vehicles were at the scene in the
aftermath, and helicopters flew overhead. Police said they were
reviewing license plate readers and surveillance videos from nearby
businesses in their search for suspects.
The church was cooperating with law enforcement and said it was
grateful for first responders' quick efforts.
“We extend prayers for all who have been impacted by this tragedy
and express deep concern that any sacred space intended for worship
should be subjected to violence of any kind,” church spokesperson
Sam Penrod said.
Latter-day Saints have been on heightened alert since four people
were killed when a former Marine opened fire in one of their
churches in Michigan in September and set it ablaze. The FBI found
that he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against the
church.
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