Utah prosecutors are seeking the extradition of a California man on murder charges in connection with a homicide A fatal shooting in January in a church parking lot in Salt Lake City, killing two people, according to court documents unsealed Monday.
Law enforcement took 32-year-old John Via Owasike 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 not clear whether Uasike has an attorney who could comment on his behalf. The shooting occurred 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 said the shooting broke out because of a dispute between people who knew each other and were attending a funeral. All victims were adults. Police previously said they did not believe the violence was linked to hostility towards a particular religion.
Its website says the church serves mostly Tongan congregants. In the 1890s, LDS missionaries brought their faith to Tonga, an archipelago in the South Pacific. More than 25% of the US Tongan population reside in Utah, the home state of the church.
The two men who died in the shooting were identified as Faya Tolikihevo, 46, and Sioni Vatovi, 38.
Witnesses saw Awasike get a gun from a black SUV and point it at a man’s head, according to newly unsealed charging information in the case.
Others tried to calm Uasike down, and as they raised his hand with the gun, Uasike fired twice into the air causing the others to cower and then scatter, according to information written by Salt Lake City Police Detective Stephen Bigelow.
Owasike then circled the SUV and fired into the church and funeral attendees, killing two people and wounding others, Bigelow wrote.
A witness said someone returned fire, and Awasike, who was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound, flew to California after receiving treatment, according to Bigelow.
In February, a federal grand jury Two other men were charged with firearms charges In connection with the shooting, which also injured six people.