Vaea Tulikihifo Jr., 46, was fatally shot on the evening of January 7, 2026, while attending a memorial service at a Rose Park meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. A dispute in the parking lot that he was not involved in escalated into gunfire. At least ten shots were fired; Vaea was struck and killed as an innocent bystander. Another man, Sione Vatuvei, 38, was also killed and six others were wounded.

Salt Lake City police recovered a handgun and a blue Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap at the scene. Investigators say multiple witnesses described one of the shooters in a way that closely matched 32-year-old Ryan Daniel Toutai. Court documents say Toutai initially told police he had been inside the church and did not see anyone with a firearm; he was arrested and charged with one count of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. A video reportedly showed a person wearing a similar hat, and a video on Toutai’s phone allegedly showed him handling the same gun recovered by police.

Vaea is described as a devoted husband and father to a blended family of twelve children and as a man of faith and hard work who attended to his community. Does anyone have information about the shooting or the moments in the parking lot that night?