One killed, 2 hurt in nightclub shooting

One man was killed and two were injured during a shooting at a downtown Salt Lake City nightclub early Saturday morning.

Before anyone had alerted dispatchers, an on-duty police officer responded to a shooting outside Club Bliss, 404 S. West Temple. The officer, whose identity has not been released, was patrolling the downtown area about 1:15 a.m. when he heard multiple shots fired and saw the large crowd from which the shots originated, said Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Robin Snyder.

Upon arrival, the officer confronted the shooter and later shot him as he attempted to escape in a car, Snyder said. The man fled the scene alone at a high rate of speed before his car crashed into a telephone pole and fire hydrant at 530 S. West Temple, she said.

Police have not yet determined if the man died from injuries sustained from the officer's shot or the crash. The man's identity has not yet been released, but police say he was about 20 years old.

"(The officer) was essentially a witness to this, and that doesn't happen very often," Snyder said at a press conference Saturday afternoon.

A woman at the nightclub was shot in the arm, and the same bullet grazed a man's back, Snyder said. The women was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and the man was treated and released at the scene.

Police aren't sure what sparked the shooting or if the injured man and woman were possible targets.

The officer, who Snyder described as a veteran on the force, has been placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.

E-mail: cnorlen@desnews.com