Suspect faces attempted murder charge in Walmart shooting incident

Stock photo by YakobchukOlena, iStock/Getty Images, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – A California man who allegedly fled Washington City following a shooting incident was caught in Mesquite, Nevada, Wednesday.

Henry Pittman, 23, of San Diego, has been charged with a first-degree felony count of attempted murder in Utah in relation to the shooting, which occurred at a Walmart parking lot in Washington City early Wednesday.

Read more: Shots fired in Washington Walmart parking lot; 1 taken to hospital

Henry Pittman, 23, of San Diego, California, bookings photo, posted April 11, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Mesquite Police Department, St. George News

According to an affidavit of probable cause supporting a warrant for Pittman’s arrest, police were alerted to the shooting at around 1:26 a.m. Wednesday in the area of 625 West Telegraph Street. When responders arrived at the scene, they encountered a 30-year-old man who had been shot in the leg.

“Officers located multiple spent rounds near the victim,” the affidavit states. “The suspect was identified at that time as Henry Pittman who had left the area.”

Investigators believe the suspect and others may have been in the parking lot for a drug deal, Washington City Police spokesman Ed Kantor previously told St. George News.

During that time, the victim and Pittman got into an argument unrelated to the alleged drug deal, and it escalated to the point that Pittman shot the 30-year-old man.

The victim survived and was taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center for care.

According to the affidavit, the driver of the car that had taken Pittman to Walmart later took him to the “east desert area of Washington Dam Road where all parties exited the vehicle,” at which point Pittman left the area in an unknown direction.

The driver also told police that Pittman began to throw items from the car window as they drove past the south side of a Home Depot store near the Walmart parking lot following the shooting. These items included ammunition, which police found matched the ammunition used in the incident.

Police in Mesquite, Nevada, became involved after Washington City Police received an anonymous tip as to Pittman’s whereabouts at the time.

The Mesquite Police Department was contacted to assist around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to a news release from the Mesquite Police Department issued Thursday.

Mesquite Police detectives located Pittman in a casino and took him into custody.

In addition to the attempted murder charge in Utah, Pittman has been charged in Nevada with felonies related to being a fugitive from justice and possessing suspected methamphetamine, as well as a misdemeanor charge for resisting arrest.

Pittman was transported and booked into the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas. Pittman will also begin the extradition process for transfer back to Utah.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

St. George News reporter Cody Blowers contributed to this report.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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1 Comment

  • Utahguns April 12, 2018 at 9:41 pm

    This guy can hold my shooting targets any day…..

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