SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4) – A Kanab man has been charged with murder after reportedly shooting and killing a 29-year-old woman during a fight in Salt Lake City on Nov. 20.
Dustin James Pedersen, 37, was charged with first-degree felony murder Friday in the 3rd District Court.
On Nov. 20 at 2 a.m., Salt Lake City Police received a 911 call regarding a shooting that had just occurred. A woman, later identified as Nichole Olsen, had reportedly been shot and was being taken to the hospital. Officers then talked to those involved in the incident at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.
Olsen was declared deceased at the hospital despite lifesaving efforts, and detectives responded to the scene at 300 South West Temple where they were able to recover a .22 shell casing.
Officers reportedly located witnesses from the scene and conducted interviews. One witness, who was involved in the group, explained that while attending a downtown club in Salt Lake City earlier in the evening with her boyfriend, Olsen, and Olsen’s boyfriend, an altercation took place between their group and two males.
A probable cause affidavit states that security from the club had asked the two males to leave due to the incident.
Later, Olsen’s group allegedly decided to attend an after party in the area of 300 South West Temple and drove to that area and parked in a parking lot.
The witness states that when they parked in the parking lot, a “dark colored BMW coupe pulled
directly in the stall in front of their vehicle.” The witness’ boyfriend reportedly then got out of the passenger side of the vehicle while Olsen exited the driver seat of the vehicle.
The affidavit states that at this point, the driver of the BMW, later identified as Pedersen, exited and confronted the boyfriend, saying, “‘You are the people from the club!’, or words
to that effect.” At this point, the witness immediately recognized the two males that exited the BMW as the same people who they were involved in the altercation with at the club earlier in the night.
The witness’ boyfriend reportedly then got into a physical altercation with the passenger of the BMW, and the witness states that she then exited their car and tried to calm down the situation.
The affidavit states that she had observed the driver of the BMW, Pedersen, “constantly
reaching into his waistband,” and described him as “lifting his shirt exposing his belt line.”
According to the witness, Olsen and Pedersen were standing by the BMW when the witness heard a single gunshot. Olsen then walked over to her and told her that she had just been shot. The witness says she saw Pedersen placing something back into his waistband before he got back into the driver seat of the BMW.
The others stopped fighting at this point, according to the affidavit, and the BMW then
“immediately fled from the parking lot” and was last seen heading eastbound on 300 South.
One person in the group was able to capture video of the BMW fleeing the parking lot. This video was provided to police.
Detectives responded to the downtown club and retrieved video surveillance from inside the
club. They reportedly observed an altercation near the bathroom between the two groups just after 1:30 a.m.
Homicide detectives also reviewed the cellphone video captured in the parking lot. The black BMW reportedly appeared to have a car dealership license plate, making it clear that “this vehicle had just been recently sold.”
Detectives reached out to the dealership listed on the plates and asked sales staff about the car’s model and recent sales that have been made.
Detectives were told that a vehicle matching its description was sold the week prior to Pedersen out of Kanab, Utah.
On Nov. 21, homicide detectives received a call from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office. The
sheriff’s office was called by Pedersen, who “wanted to discuss a matter with the Sheriff’s Office.”
Pedersen “voluntarily went to the Sheriff’s Office” and spoke with a detective, saying he had shot a round from his gun to “scare everyone fighting” when Olsen was hit by the bullet.
He also told police that the BMW was at his step dad’s house, and that the gun used in the shooting was still in the trunk of the vehicle.
Salt Lake City Detectives served a search warrant on Pedersen’s car, which was “consistent with the same make and model of the vehicle observed fleeing from the scene in the cellphone video.”
Police then located and seized a .22 caliber handgun that was found inside the trunk of the vehicle.
Olsen’s cause of death was confirmed by the medical examiner’s office to be a gunshot wound to the chest, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
