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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake police on Sunday arrested a second man accused of shooting and killing a man outside a warehouse in a Poplar Grove neighborhood last month as part of what police call a "coordinated effort with several shooters."
Nay Blu Soe, 21, was arrested as he deboarded a plane at the Salt Lake City International Airport after returning to Utah from Detroit. He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated murder and obstructing justice in the May 26 killing of Nico Christopher Patino, 30.
Patino was shot and killed at a warehouse that had been used for an "after-party event" that night at 1810 W. Fortune Road (1250 South). When officers arrived just after 4 a.m., he was lying on the ground dead in the parking lot, according to a police booking affidavit.
Surveillance video showed Patino exiting the building into the parking lot "before stopping to have what appeared to be a disagreement with the adult female witness he arrived with," the affidavit states. A vehicle then drove toward and passed them, then slowed down and stopped.
"The victim turned his attention to the vehicle and appeared to be speaking with the car's driver. As the victim was talking with the driver of the car, multiple coordinated shooters on foot and in the vehicle fired at the victim. The victim was seen turning to his right and falling toward the ground," according to the affidavit.
Patino died from multiple gunshot wounds. Police reported locating several shell casings of different makes and calibers near his body.
Abdihakim Abdullahi Mohamed, 19, was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Tuesday for investigation of aggravated murder in the same shooting. Police said Sunday that more arrests in the case are possible.
The video also showed two people exiting the car, and then they walked over to the warehouse and "were observed standing in line as if they were going to try to get into the venue," the arrest report says.
Detectives served a search warrant and determined that Blu Soe's cellphone was in the area at the time of the killing, according to the affidavit. Detectives also searched his residence and reported finding clothing matching the clothing he was wearing when Patino was killed.
Blu Soe's girlfriend told police he came home that morning "and woke her up due to being stressed" and said he had just shot and killed someone, the affidavit alleges.
Investigators have requested that he be held without bail. The motive for the killing remains under investigation, Salt Lake police said Sunday.
