Utah charges man with murder in January shooting outside church in Salt Lake City

Audio By Carbonatix

Prosecutors in Utah are seeking the extradition of a man from California on murder charges in connection with a deadly shooting in January at a church parking lot in Salt Lake City that left two people dead, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

Law enforcement took 32-year-old John Vea Uasike Jr. into custody on April 14 in connection with six felony charges including two counts of murder and weapons violations, the Salt Lake County district attorney's office said in a news release.

It was unclear if Uasike has an attorney who could comment on his behalf. The shooting took place Jan. 7 in the back parking lot of a place of worship for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church.

Investigators had said the gunfire broke out from a dispute between people who knew each other and were attending a funeral. All the victims were adults. Police have previously said they do not believe the violence was connected to animus toward a particular faith.

The church mostly serves Tongan congregants, its website says. In the 1890s, LDS missionaries brought their faith to Tonga, an archipelago in the South Pacific. More than 25% of the U.S. Tongan population resides in Utah, the headquarters of the church.

The men who died in the shooting have been identified as Vaea Tulikihihifo, 46, and Sione Vatuvei, 38.

Witnesses saw Uasike get a gun from a black sport utility vehicle and point it at a man’s head, according to the newly unsealed charging information in the case.

Others tried to calm Uasike down and, while they held up his hand with the gun, Uasike fired twice into the air causing the others to duck then scatter, alleges the information written by Salt Lake City police detective Steven Bigelow.

Uasike then went around the SUV and allegedly fired toward the church and funeral attendees, killing two and striking others, Bigelow wrote.

A witness said someone returned fire and Uasike, who was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound, went to California after being treated, according to Bigelow.

In February, a federal grand jury indicted two other men on firearms charge s in connection with the shootings, which also left six people injured.