OGDEN -- It was a busy weekend for the Ogden Metro Gang Unit, with two shootings and one stabbing reported within a 24-hour period.
In both shootings, children narrowly escaped injury from bullets that struck houses.
Police Lt. Scott Conley said the crimes were unrelated to each other and were committed by members of gangs other than Ogden Trece.
"They have nothing to do with the injunction," Conley said, referencing a controversial Ogden city injunction that bans members of the local Trece gang from associating with one another in public. "The Treces haven't given us any problems."
The first shooting occurred early Sunday at a home in west Ogden near Exchange Road, Conley said. Witnesses told police a Jeep Cherokee with large rims drove quickly down the street and shot at a home four or five times.
Several children were sleeping in the front living room, Conley said, and one bullet narrowly missed a 6-year-old girl after hitting the couch where she was sleeping. Two other children younger than 10 also were asleep in the living room but were not hit.
Conley said police are still investigating the incident and have not made any arrests. He said they believe the home was targeted.
"We are investigating possible gang associations to that home," he said.
Homeowner Amber Rueda contacted the Standard-Examiner to say she believed the shooters were "acting stupid."
She wanted to send them a message of how close they came to taking innocent lives.
Rueda said she has not ever been a member of a gang, but that some of her family members were once members of Ogden Trece.
However, she said, they grew out of it.
Rueda said she believes she is having problems because of gang members who lived in the house before she did.
She said gang members have come to her door previously, trying to start fights with her.
The second shooting occurred about 8 p.m. Sunday near Pingree Avenue and 28th Street.
Conley said a gunfight occurred after an argument between two groups of men. He said bullet casings indicate that two guns were fired.
An 18-year-old man went to the hospital with a bullet wound to the calf. Conley said the man was not cooperating with police, but told officials he was inside a vehicle when the bullet struck his leg.
Stray bullets hit two townhomes in the area.
Conley said both townhomes housed families of six, and one bullet missed by about 10 feet an 8-year-old boy who was working at a computer.
A child in the other home also was less than 10 feet away from a bullet's path.
"They're fortunate no one was seriously hurt or killed," Conley said.
In the third incident, a man was stabbed late Saturday night in Lester Park, 663 24th St., after a confrontation with a group spraying graffiti on the restrooms.
Ogden Lt. Shawn Hamblin said the man was talking to the group before he was stabbed.
The man underwent surgery to treat four stab wounds. Conley said the man's condition has been upgraded and the injuries appear to no longer be life-threatening.
John Gallegos, 20, was booked into Weber County Jail on suspicion of attempted homicide, unlawful consumption, assault by a prisoner and criminal mischief in connection with the stabbing incident.
Conley said gang activity fluctuates, but the three cases weren't anything extremely unusual.
"It was a busy weekend."
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