In the early morning hours of May 26, 2024, the life of 30-year-old Nico Christopher Patino, a male resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, was tragically cut short. The fatal encounter unfolded in the Glendale neighborhood, specifically in a parking lot near 1800 West Fortune Road. Patino was attending an after-party event held at a warehouse when the situation escalated into violence shortly after 4 a.m.
According to police investigations, the shooting was not a random act but a coordinated
attack involving several individuals. Patino had just stepped out of the warehouse into the parking lot with a female companion when a silver Chrysler sedan approached them. After a brief exchange of words with the driver, a barrage of gunfire erupted. The assault was carried out by multiple shooters, some on foot and at least one from within the vehicle. Patino was struck by numerous bullets from both his front and back and died at the scene.
The Salt Lake City Police Department's Homicide Squad launched an investigation into what was the city's fifth homicide of the year. Authorities believe a fight in the parking lot preceded the deadly shooting and urged witnesses, many of whom had been recording the altercation and fled in fear, to come forward. Their investigation, aided by surveillance footage, led to the identification and subsequent arrest of three suspects.
The first to be taken into custody was 19-year-old Abdihakim Abdullahi Mohamed, who was charged with aggravated murder. Shortly after, a second suspect, 21-year-old Nay Blu Soe, was arrested at the Salt Lake City International Airport upon his return from Detroit. Soe faces charges of murder and obstruction of justice; investigators were reportedly told by his girlfriend that he came home stressed on the morning of the incident and admitted to shooting someone. The third arrest was that of 19-year-old Nhial Buk, who was identified as one of the shooters and apprehended after a foot chase. He faces charges of murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and obstruction of justice. While arrests have been made, the motive behind the coordinated killing of Nico Patino remains under investigation.
