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SALT LAKE CITY — Newly unsealed court documents give details into a potentially deadly confrontation in November between two groups of middle school and high school-aged children.
A total of eight boys were arrested, ranging from ages 13 to 17, and booked into Salt Lake Juvenile Detention, said Unified Police Sgt. Melody Gray.
Nine search warrants were unsealed Monday in 3rd District Court outlining the complex investigation. The Unified officer working the case stated the confrontation involved a group of students from Matheson Jr. High School and another from Cyprus High School, the warrants state.
A juvenile stole a gun from his parents and then tried to cover it up by making it look like their house had been burglarized on Nov. 12, the warrants state. The boy's father owns multiple guns, according to the warrant. One of the boys in the middle school group took pictures of the gun and posted it on social media, the warrants state.
A member of the high school group saw the post and asked if the younger boys wanted to use it to rob a marijuana dealer, according to the warrant. The boys agreed and arranged to meet at Pleasant Green Park.
But when the middle school group arrived, the high school group attempted to rob them at gunpoint, according to the warrants. The alleged gunman pointed his weapon at at least two of the younger boys, the warrant states. One of the younger boys grabbed the pistol and the gunman's hand, and "forced (his) hand into the air," the warrants state. A shot was fired in the air, according to police.
No one was injured by the bullet, but the boy trying to wrestle the weapon away from the gunman suffered a small powder burn on his hand, according to the warrants. Both groups ran after the shot was fired.
Over the next 24 hours, police tracked down the boys, interviewing them one by one at their homes and at school, according to the warrants.
