A man who brought a rifle to a “No Kings” rally in Utah — prompting an armed safety volunteer to open fire and accidentally kill a protester — has been released from jail while the investigation continues.
Salt Lake District Attorney Sim Gill’s office said Friday that it was unable to make a decision on charges against Arturo Gamboa, 24, who had been jailed on suspicion of murder following the June 14 shooting.
Salt Lake City police had said Gamboa brought an assault-style rifle to the rally and was allegedly moving toward the crowd with the weapon raised when a safety volunteer for the event fired three shots, wounding Gamboa and killing a nearby demonstrator, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo.
Gamboa did not fire his rifle and it is unclear what he intended to do with it. His lawyer, Greg Skordas, said Gamboa was lawfully in possession of the rifle at the rally and was walking with it unloaded pointed at the ground before he was shot in the back by the volunteer. Skordas said he does not believe that Gamboa heard anyone tell him to drop the weapon.
“There was never any raising of the gun, any brandishing of the gun, any pointing it toward anyone at all,” Skordas said.
Gamboa had been attending the rally as a supporter, Skordas said, adding that he was not entirely sure why Gamboa brought the rifle.
Skordas said his client, who works at a grocery store and is a part-time musician, had brought a gun at least once in the past to a demonstration, during the Black Lives Matter protests several years ago.
Skordas said the volunteer who shot Gamboa and the demonstrator should face criminal charges, not Gamboa.
His father Albert Gamboa, told The Associated Press earlier this week that his son was “an innocent guy” who was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Utah is an open-carry state, meaning people who can legally own a firearm are generally allowed to carry it on a public street. The volunteer has not been publicly identified as investigators have worked to determine who was at fault.
Judge James Blanch said in the release order that Gamboa must live with his father and is forbidden from possessing firearms. The conditions terminate after two months or if criminal charges against him are pursued, Blanch wrote.
Police said the day after the shooting that witnesses reported seeing Gamboa lift the rifle when he was ordered to drop it and that instead he began running toward the crowd. He fled but was arrested nearby, accused of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loo’s death.
Salt Lake City police said in a statement the next day that Gamboa “knowingly engaged in conduct … that ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member.”
But three days after Gamboa was booked into jail, with no formal charges filed, police acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding the shooting remained uncertain. They issued a public appeal for any video footage related to the shooting or Gamboa, and said detectives were still trying “to piece together exactly what happened.”
The volunteer who confronted Gamboa was described by event organizers as a military veteran whose role as a safety volunteer was to maintain order.
Experts say it’s extremely rare for such individuals, often called safety marshals, to be armed. They typically rely on calm demeanor, communication and relationships with police and protesters to help keep order, said Edward Maguire, an Arizona State University criminology and criminal justice professor.
Police said the permit for the protest did not specify that there would be armed security.
Protest organizers have not said whether or how the safety volunteer who shot Ah Loo was trained or explained why he was armed. All attendees, including those in safety roles, were asked not to bring weapons, according to Sarah Parker, a national coordinator for the 50501 Movement.
The demonstration involving some 18,000 people was otherwise peaceful. It was one of hundreds nationwide against President Donald Trump’s military parade in Washington, which marked the Army’s 250th anniversary and coincided with Trump’s birthday.
