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SLCPD Provides Update on Glendale Murder Investigation, Suspect in Custody

SALT LAKE CITY — Today, the Salt Lake City Police Department arrested a 31-year-old man wanted for murder.

The suspect is identified as Jima Gat.

Gat will be booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on charges of murder and obstruction of justice.

Detectives with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT) safely arrested Gat on Friday, August 9, 2024, near 380 South 300 West.

This investigation started at 11:54 p.m. on Monday, August 5, 2024, when SLC911 received a call about an unresponsive man on the ground inside of an apartment at 1600 West Snow Queen Place.

Officers responded and found 41-year-old Andrew Mozart Maka with a life-threatening gunshot wound.

Paramedics and officers performed lifesaving aid, but Maka died on scene.

Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives have learned that Maka , Gat, and several others went to the apartment and started drinking. While in the apartment, Maka accidentally discharged a handgun, which injured Gat’s brother. In response, it is alleged Gat took the gun and shot Maka multiple times.

Gat, his brother, and others left the apartment.

Detectives believe Gat threw the firearm used in the alleged murder into a nearby body of water.

Anyone with information on this case, including having photos or video, is asked to call 801-799-3000 or submit an anonymous tip using the City Protect App and reference case number 24-178422.

This is the seventh homicide in Salt Lake City for 2024.

No further information on this case is being released, and currently, the department is not providing interviews on this case.

Charges are only allegations, and every arrested person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is not the custodian of record for jail booking photos. Utah Code 17-22-30 mostly prohibits the release of jail booking photos. Generally, a jail booking photo can only be released by the custodian of record after a conviction or when law enforcement determines the person is a fugitive or an imminent threat to a person or public safety. In Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office is the custodian of record for jail booking photos.

The Salt Lake City Police Department’s Homicide Squad is the only full-time dedicated homicide squad in the State of Utah. The squad is responsible for handling all homicides, as well as the city’s attended deaths, unattended deaths, suspicious deaths, and deaths by suicide. The squad is also tasked with investigating missing persons cases and officer involved shootings/critical incidents (OICI) from other agencies in Salt Lake County.

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