An adorable eight-month-old baby was killed at a Father’s Day carnival after a 16-year-old gunman opened fire and shot five people in Utah.
Anderson Garcia Cabrera Jr., who was a twin, was caught in the crossfire on Sunday evening at WestFest in West Valley City, near Salt Lake City.
The baby and an unrelated 41-year-old victim were unintentionally killed in the shooting, allegedly started by an unnamed 16-year-old gunman.
Another victim, an 18 who is believed to be the intended target, also died.
The child’s father, Anderson Garcia Sr., said he never intended to go to the fair but decided to stop by after noticing it on the way to a Walmart.
‘All I wanted was for my babies to be happy there, to have fun,’ he told Fox 13 Now.
‘What was meant to be a joyful Father’s Day celebration…became the most heartbreaking night of our lives,’ the family wrote on GoFundMe, which has garnered $40,000 of its $100,000 goal.
Garcia said ‘everything happened so fast.’ One moment, they were watching cars with their twins, and the next, violence broke out.
Anderson Garcia Cabrera Jr., eight months, (pictured with dad) was fatally caught in the crossfire on Sunday evening at WestFest in West Valley City, near Salt Lake City
The baby, who was a twin, (pictured with family) and an unrelated 41-year-old victim was unintentionally harmed in the shooting, started by a 16-year-old gunman, who was not identified. Another victim, 18, who is believed to be the intended target, also died
‘The only thing I did was hug the stroller, thinking it’s better they shoot me,’ he told KUTV. ‘He looked at me, then I saw the blood coming out of the back of his head.’
The family wishes to bring the baby’s body back to Guatemala to be buried next to family.
‘We are devastated and struggling to process this unimaginable loss. Our greatest wish is to return our beautiful son to Guatemala, so he can rest in peace surrounded by our family and loved ones.’
The family remembers the toddler as a ‘happy baby.’
‘I’ve never seen one like him,’ his father told Fox 13 Now.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the family for comment.
Law enforcement saw the horror began when two groups began arguing Sunday night just 100 yards from a police mobile command post.
‘As they approached to break up the altercation, a 16-year-old male from one of the groups pulled out a gun and fired,’ the department posted on X. One officer fired back but did not hit anyone.
Garcia said ‘everything happened so fast.’ One moment, they were watching cars with their twins, and the next, violence broke out (pictured: the carnival)
‘The only thing I did was hug the stroller, thinking it’s better they shoot me,’ the father said. ‘He looked at me, then I saw the blood coming out of the back of his head’ (pictured: the carnival)
The shooter struck and killed Hassan Lugundi, 18, of West Valley City, in one of the groups. Lugundi appeared to have been an intended target, police said.
Besides the baby boy, bystander Fnu Reena, 41, of West Jordan, was also killed. Both died at a hospital.
Reena was not the infant’s mother, though she was in roughly the same line of fire.
Two other teens, a 17-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, had non-life-threatening wounds in the arm, police said.
It was not clear if they were connected to the groups involved. Their identities were not released because they were juveniles.
A pregnant woman was hurt while trying to get over a fence to flee, police said.
The 16-year-old was quickly taken into custody and booked into juvenile detention, police said. He was charged with three counts of homicide, West Valley City spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku said at a news conference Monday.
His name would not be released because he was a juvenile, Vainuku said.
‘All I wanted was for my babies to be happy there, to have fun,’ his father , Anderson Garcia Sr., (pictured together) said
The family wishes to bring the baby’s body back to Guatemala to be buried next to family
Police were interviewing witnesses and fellow officers to find out more about what happened, including whether the confrontation was gang-related, Vainuku said.
Two officers directly involved in the confrontation were being investigated by a Salt Lake City Police Department protocol team because one fired their gun. As a result, they would not be immediately interviewed by West Valley City police, Vainuku said.
‘In short, there are simply details we will not know until the investigation is complete,’ Vainuku said.
The carnival, a celebration of the establishment of West Valley City and of its cultural diversity, was winding down after drawing as many as 10,000 people over the weekend.
Between 1,000 to 2,000 people were still present when the shooting happened, Vainuku said.
