SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted two men on firearms charges in connection with a shooting last month in a church parking lot in Salt Lake City that left two people dead and six more injured.
The indictment unsealed Friday charges 32-year-old Ryan Toutai with unlawful disposition of a firearm and 26-year-old Fineeva Maka with felon in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah said.
Investigators used cellphone videos and photos and GPS ankle monitor evidence to tie the two men to a pistol recovered from the Jan. 7 shooting, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Prosecutors allege the two men are gang members.
The violence took place in the back parking lot of a place of worship for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. Investigators have said the shooting broke out from a dispute between people who knew each other and were attending a funeral. All the victims were adults. No one has yet been charged in the actual killings.
The church mostly serves Tongan congregants, its website says. In the 1890s, LDS missionaries brought their faith to Tonga, an archipelago in the South Pacific. More than 25% of the U.S. Tongan population resides in Utah, the headquarters of the church.
Toutai and Maka are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. It wasn’t clear if they had attorneys and The Associated Press could not immediately reach them for comment. The federal public defender's office also could not be reached.
Police previously arrested Toutai for a charge of felony obstruction of justice in the case. He was in jail on Saturday. A third man also was arrested on the same charge.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.