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Suspect in Salt Lake City shooting charged with multiple felonies, including aggravated assault

Posted at 6:52 PM, Jun 11, 2023
and last updated 2023-06-12 13:06:42-04

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City Police are investigating a shooting downtown Sunday evening that left one man with a non-life-threatening injury.

Johnny Cuevas, 30, was detained near the Main City Library in connection to the shooting and he was booked on one felony count of aggravated assault, three felony counts of discharge a firearm, one felony count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and one misdemeanor count of obstruction of justice, police report.

A little before 6 p.m., a 9-1-1 call reported someone had fired a gun in the area of 100 South 300 East.

SLC911 received additional calls from community members who provided crucial information about the shooting and the suspect.

While officers searched the area for any victims, suspects, and evidence, they learned a 23-year-old man arrived at a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

Based on a tip from a community member, officers quickly and safely detained Cuevas near the Main City Library, and safely seized a firearm.

"There was some sort of altercation beforehand, some sort of argument that led to this," said Det. Michael Ruff with the Salt Lake Police Dept. "Obviously, we're still looking into what the circumstances around that are. We do want to reiterate, there's no threat to the community. We do have the suspect in custody and do have the firearm."

Two crime scenes were documented in association with the incident.

The first was located at 105 South 300 East where officers believe the suspect shot the victim.

The second was located at 250 South 300 East where officers believe the suspect shot towards a second person as he fled the scene. That shooting did not injure the person.

Police report that the motive for the shooting is under investigation but they do not believe it was random.

Officers are in the area checking for surveillance video that may have captured the shooting. Officers are also requesting that any community members with video or photos of the moments before, during, and after the shooting to call 801-799-3000.

The victim’s name is not being released.