SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4) – Salt Lake City Police Department is investigating a suspicious circumstance where a person was found and taken to the hospital with a severe injury on Wednesday, Dec. 29.
Brent Weisberg, a spokesperson with the Salt Lake City Police Department, told ABC4 the incident happened just before midnight in a neighborhood near Liberty Park. Police received a call from a local hospital, asking for help with a possible criminal investigation.
Medical officials told police a patient was brought in by paramedics with critical and potentially life-threatening injuries. Based on their assessment, they do not believe the injury occurred naturally, such as through a fall. Weisberg said medical staff felt the injury was severe and suspicious enough to call the police.
“This is a little bit of an unusual investigation as to how we got here,” Weisberg told ABC4. “Usually in most assault investigation – if that’s how this goes – we would be able to say there was a stab wound, there was a shooting, we would be able to determine that. In this circumstance, we are still trying to piece everything together.”
Weisberg said while they are still gathering information, police do have reason to believe this is a suspicious circumstance and, out of an abundance of caution, want to fully investigate the matter.
Police have blocked off the roads in the area of Princeton Avenue and Lake Street as they investigate a duplex in the area where the patient lives.
At this point in the investigation, Weisberg told ABC4 police are looking for other victims, signs of a crime scene, and looking for potential witnesses to talk to. In the most recent update, SLCPD SWAT executed a court-authorized search warrant as part of the investigation.
Weisberg said the investigation could go on for a while, as police want to complete the investigation very slowly, methodically, and safely. Police have already been at the crime scene for several hours.
“This is a very dynamic situation and we are trying to make sure we can fully investigate the person’s injuries and determine how that happened and why,” said Weisberg.
Police said there is currently no public safety threat, but roads could be blocked off for several more hours.
As of Thursday morning, the patient is currently still in critical condition with potentially life-threatening injuries.
The patient’s identity has not been released at this time.
This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this story as more information becomes available.
