Utah police hunt for driver who barreled onto sidewalk, killing 1
SALT LAKE CITY >> Police searched today for a woman who drove onto a sidewalk near a Salt Lake City homeless shelter, killing one woman and injuring five others.
Officers were investigating whether she intentionally left the road Tuesday, Detective Robert Ungricht said. The car stopped when it hit a tree, and the woman got out and ran away, police said.
One person was critically injured and is expected to survive. The other four suffered minor injuries like cuts and bruises, he said. The name of the woman who died at the scene was not immediately released, pending notification of her family.
A passenger in the car stayed behind and cooperated with investigators. The driver is described as a white woman who is 5 foot 5 and wearing a red tank top and blue denim shorts.
Officers say they were searching for Shutney Lee Kyzer, 37, whom they call a person of interest. Anyone with information is asked to call Salt Lake City police.
No phone number was publicly listed for her, and a lawyer who previously represented her on a different case didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
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The crash happened near the overcrowded Road Home shelter, where people are often seen living on nearby sidewalks.
A memorial near the scene of the crash honored the dead woman with a wreath of yellow flowers and handwritten messages.
“She was my best friend. We were helping each other get off drugs,” said Anthony Archuleta, 50, adding that she was due to get housing off the streets later this month.
Authorities say the area is frequented by drug dealers and has been hit by violence, including a police shooting that crucially wounded a teenage refugee.
“I just feel like we’re being targeted by people because we’re homeless, we’re drug addicts,” China Edwards said.
Days before the woman drove onto the sidewalk, a minor league baseball player with the Las Vegas 51s team was attacked by a homeless man in an attempted robbery about a mile away, Salt Lake City police said.