4 charged, 1 more arrested in large Summit County party shootout involving submachine gun

Four people now face criminal charges after police say a large party in rural Summit County ended in a shootout between organizers and people who had been kicked out. A fifth person was arrested late Tuesday.

Four people now face criminal charges after police say a large party in rural Summit County ended in a shootout between organizers and people who had been kicked out. A fifth person was arrested late Tuesday. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)


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PEOA, Summit County — Four people now face criminal charges tied to a shootout at a large rental property in Summit County when about 50 shots were exchanged and at least two men were injured.

Manuel A. Pimentel-Gonzalez, 23, of Ogden; Francisco Enrique Romero Fuenmayor, 23, of Ogden; Alejandro Carreno-Romero, 20; and Enrique Diaz, who did not have an age or residence listed in court documents, were each charged in 3rd District Court Tuesday with two counts of shooting a gun causing serious injury, plus three counts of illegal discharge of a firearm, second-degree felonies.

Pimentel-Gonzalez was also charged with being a restricted person in possession of a gun, a second-degree felony, and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.

In addition, a fifth person, Jose Enrique Suniga-Diaz, 18, was arrested late Tuesday night and booked into the Summit County Jail for investigation of discharge of a firearm causing injury.

About 3 a.m. Sunday, Summit County sheriff's deputies responded to a report of shots fired at a large residence in Peoa that sits on nearly 450 acres of land and can be rented out for events.

"The initial officers arrived and saw hundreds of people and dozens of cars trying to leave the scene of the rental property that was the site of a pay-to-play party," according to charging documents.

Over the next several hours of investigation, deputies "collected security video footage, 42 shell casings, four firearms, multiple cartridges and 11 cellphones" and found four cars with bullet holes, the charges state.

Detectives discovered there had been a disagreement between two groups — one described in charging documents as the "commercial party organizers," or simply the "organizers," and another group referred to as "friends."

"The security video shows the friends, who had been allowed into the party but were then kicked out," the charges state. "The argument between the groups gets louder and insults are hurled back and forth."

A man in the friends group then brandished a gun, according to charging documents, prompting Pimentel-Gonzalez from the organizers group to retrieve "a submachine gun" from a vehicle and point it at the man brandishing the weapon, the charges state.

Other organizers then surrounded the friends.

"The friends walk back to their vehicles, followed by the organizers led by Francisco Romero. Romero then holds up a firearm and discharges several rounds above the friends. Multiple organizers and friends exchange gunfire, including Romero who continues to fire on the friends," charging documents allege. "At least two friends can be seen shooting in the direction of the organizers from positions behind their cars."

Late Sunday night, Pimentel-Gonzalez was located in Eagle Mountain and arrested. A Draco 9mm submachine gun was also recovered, the charges state. Pimentel-Gonzalez was taken to a local hospital to be treated for a gunshot that had entered his back and exited through his arm, police say. Francisco Romero was also arrested on Sunday.

A second man later told investigators he had been shot in the hand.

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Police & CourtsUtahSummit/Wasatch County
Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.

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