Investigation ongoing despite shooter's death

Despite the fact the gunman in Monday's mass murder at Trolley Square shopping mall is dead, police remain hard at work trying to piece together more information about the crime and the motive behind it.

Law enforcement officials have not uncovered what prompted the deadly bloodbath 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic inflicted upon mall patrons that left six people dead, including Talovic, and four people in the hospital.

Salt Lake City police are continuing to investigate the case as if it were going to a prosecutor and eventually to trial.

Although the case would normally be closed for Salt Lake investigators at this point because the gunman is dead, Salt Lake City police detective Robin Snyder said in this incident, it will remain an active investigation.

"The reason for that is there were five people killed. We're not going to just stop our investigation here. We're going to continue investigating like any homicide to find out what the motive was," she said. "We're not going to stop the investigation. We'll continue on it just as if we were taking it to court."

Patrick Kiernan, supervisory special agent for the FBI, said his agency also is working with the Salt Lake City police.

Kiernan said that, so far, there is nothing that shows Talovic's Bosnian ancestry and Muslim religion had any bearing on the murders, although he did not rule out the possibility that further investigation might reveal new evidence.

"We have no indication that this is an act of terrorism or an act against the U.S. government," Kiernan said.

Kiernan declined to disclose specifics because of the ongoing investigation but reaffirmed that the FBI has a close working relationship with the Salt Lake police and they are working together on this case.

Meanwhile, the public and media are clamoring to know the answer to a troubling question — why?

Why did this individual apparently plan this attack, stroll into a shopping mall filled with shoppers, diners and workers, and, with an expressionless face, start killing people at random?

It's important to be patient and let the police do their work, advises Salt Lake City District Attorney Lohra Miller.

"They're doing a great job in what they're doing," she said. "They have to be methodical. What they're doing is important and we need to be patient with their investigation to give them an opportunity to find out as much as they can."

Although her office will not be prosecuting anyone since the perpetrator is dead, Miller, like others, wants very much to learn more about the motives behind a killer who produced a tragedy of such magnitude it affected an entire community.

Learning as much as possible is "one of the best things we can do to stop this type of tragedy from happening in the future," she said.

Among other things, she'd like to know where Talovic got the guns, why he acted the way he did and whether he displayed any warning signs that could have been a predictor of future homicidal behavior.

"Maybe in the future we can stop it," she said.

"As a law enforcement person, I am grateful to our community police that they were able to respond so quickly and save lives. The improved model they're using for active shooter situations has saved lives in this circumstance.

"As a mother, this kind of senseless tragedy makes your family all the more dear and makes you want to do the things in your child's life to see they get what they need to be strong adults."

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E-mail: lindat@desnews.com