The Latest: Suspect arrested in Utah carjacking death

Author: AP
Published: Updated:

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Latest on the fatal shooting near the University of Utah (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

Utah police say they’ve arrested a man sought in a fatal carjacking near the University of Utah and a Colorado homicide.

Salt Lake City Police Detective Greg Wilking said Tuesday that 24-year-old Austin Boutain turned himself in to staffers at the city library following an overnight manhunt in foothills near campus.

He was wanted in the death of a student from China who was found shot to death in his car in a rugged canyon near the University of Utah campus.

Police say Boutain had been camping in the foothills with his wife for at least a few days.

He was also wanted for questioning in the death of a 63-year-old man whose body was found in a trailer in Golden, Colorado.

MORE: 93-year-old woman dragged 20 feet during church carjacking

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12:20 p.m.

Police say they have ended a search of rugged foothills without finding a man suspected of killing a University of Utah student in a carjacking attempt.

Salt Lake City Police Detective Greg Wilking said Tuesday that 24-year-old Austin Boutain apparently slipped a police containment line after the Monday night slaying. He is believed to be armed and dangerous.

Authorities are asking people to call police to report anything suspicious, especially involving stolen cars, in the lead-up to Halloween trick or treating.

Wilking said the search near campus unearthed a campsite used by Boutain and his wife but there was no trace of him.

The search was ended about 15 hours after the death of 23-year-old ChenWei Guo, a student from China.

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11:30 a.m.

Police in Golden, Colorado, say they want to question a man already being sought in the fatal carjacking of a University of Utah student about the killing of a 63-year-old man whose body was found in a trailer.

Golden police said in a statement Tuesday that 24-year old Austin Jeffrey Boutain and his wife Kathleen E. Boutain, who is also a person of interest, had been driving a green pickup truck with Colorado license plates that was registered to the victim in Colorado.

Police discovered the man’s body inside a trailer in an RV park where he had been staying.

The discovery came after police learned the truck was being driven by the suspect in the Utah killing of a student from China.

Authorities believe the man had been dead for several days.

Police did not offer details about how the man was killed or his identity because they were in the process of informing his family.

MORE: Tampa PD: ‘We need names, not speculation’ to solve 3 Seminole Heights murders

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10:20 a.m.

Utah police say a man wanted in the fatal carjacking of a University of Utah student is a suspect in a recent homicide in Colorado.

University of Utah police chief Dale Brophy said Tuesday at a press conference in Salt Lake City that 24-year-old Austin Boutain and his wife, Kathleen E. Boutain, are wanted in a homicide in Golden, Colorado, last week.

Brophy says authorities believe the couple have been in Utah for several days and were camping in the foothills above the University of Utah.

Police say they believe Austin Boutain fatally shot 23-year-old student ChenWei Guo on Monday night.

Salt Lake County jail records show Kathleen E. Boutain was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Tuesday on unrelated drug and theft charges.

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7:18 a.m.

The University of Utah says that an international student from China was killed when a carjacking turned fatal near the campus Monday night.

University spokesman Christopher Nelson confirms that ChenWei Guo was killed. President David W. Pershing issued a statement saying that he was studying pre-computer science and was a peer adviser in the international Student and Scholar Services Office.

Pershing said the university has been in contact with the student’s parents.

University of Utah Police Chief Dale Brophy says an injured woman came to the campus and reported that her husband had assaulted her while they were camping in Red Butte Canyon east of the school.

Brophy says the woman’s husband is 24-year-old Austin Boutain. Police are searching for Boutain, who is suspected in the carjacking.

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2:50 a.m.

Police say one person is dead after a carjacking turned fatal near the University of Utah campus Monday night.

University of Utah Police Chief Dale Brophy says an injured woman came to the campus and reported that her husband had assaulted her while they were camping in Red Butte Canyon just east of the school.

Brophy says the woman’s husband is 24-year-old Austin Boutain. Police are still searching for Boutain, who is suspected of fatally shooting a person during a carjacking at the mouth of the canyon.

Authorities didn’t immediately release the victim’s gender or other details.

The Deseret News reports the university sent an alert at 9 p.m. to students and staff to shelter in place. The lockdown ended six hours later.

The University of Utah cancelled Tuesday classes.

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11:45 p.m.

Police say one person is dead after a shooting near the University of Utah campus Monday night.

The Deseret News reports that the university sent an alert at 9 p.m. to students and staff to shelter in place. People on campus remained on lockdown hours later.

Salt Lake City police posted on Twitter officers are searching nearby Red Butte Canyon for 24-year-old Austin Boutain, who is suspected in the shooting. He is considered armed and dangerous.

At least eight law enforcement agencies are on scene, including the FBI. A helicopter was assisting the search.

Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Brandon Shearer said officers weren’t immediately releasing the victim’s gender or other details.

Utah Transit Authority says there will be limited light rail service and that buses won’t service the campus for the reminder of the night.

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