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The drivers pulled off the highway before the shooting, according to charging documents.
(Sandy City Police Department) A shooting in Sandy leaves one dead and another arrested, police say, the result of road rage.
Salt Lake County prosecutors on Friday charged a 32-year-old man with murder after he admitted to shooting another driver who was performing a brake check on Interstate 15 last month.
Rodrigo Monroy stopped in front of Christopher Mortensen’s truck and “suddenly hit the brakes” while the two were driving north on I-15 at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 26, according to law enforcement documents.
Mortensen was pulling a trailer and braked suddenly to avoid a crash, his passenger told investigators. The two drivers exchanged “verbal hostility and hand gestures” before exiting the 10600 South and stopped near a convenience store at the 100 West intersection, the documents charged.
Mortensen, 42, pulled up behind Monroe’s truck before walking over to the driver’s side window. He then crashed into Monroe’s truck and Monroe pulled a gun, according to charging documents. Through Monroy’s partially opened window, the two wrestled with the weapon.
When Monroy regained control of the gun, he fired as Mortensen pulled back, saying “no,” charging documents say.
Monroy told investigators he knew Mortensen was not armed, documents state. He said he pulled the gun because he was scared and didn’t know what would happen if Mortensen took the weapon.
“Everything happened so fast,” he said, according to a probable cause statement.
Mortensen died of a gunshot wound. An autopsy showed he had been shot through the heart.
Monroe was arrested after the shooting and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. Prosecutors asked that he remain in jail without bail pending a verdict in the case.
“Given the defendant’s willingness to escalate the altercation to deadly force and the fact that the defendant is now charged with murder, there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant poses a significant danger to the community or is likely to escape the jurisdiction of the court. , if released on bail,” prosecutors wrote.
A person says Mortensen has a wife and four children obituary He had another daughter, London, who died in 2014 at age 7 — shortly before the family moved from Arizona to Utah, where the fundraiser was for his daughter.
“We are relieved to know that he finally has his baby girl, London, back in his arms. In the midst of her tragic loss, it was his love and faith that kept his family going,” reads a note on his Utah Homicide Survivors donation page. “We hope to emulate his strong spirit as we help them navigate this tragedy.
(Utah Homicide Survivors) Chris Mortensen, his wife and their four children.
Mortensen was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served a mission in London. He loved to travel and was considered a foodie, his obituary said. He especially enjoyed the tacos and tamales.
“He was service minded and extremely loyal. Whether he knew it or not, he helped everyone he ran into,” the obituary said. “Chris was extremely protective of everyone, even strangers. He is dearly loved and missed by all who knew him.”
Five days after Mortensen’s death, Utah law enforcement responded to another “road rage” shooting on I-15 in Kaysville. In that case, a woman passed a car on the right, which angered the car’s male driver, police said.
Then the young man followed the woman’s vehicle. “She slammed on the brakes to tell him to pull over,” police said, and the man swerved into her passenger side. He then fired a pellet gun several times, hitting her windshield, passenger door and window, police said.
She was not injured. The suspect was booked into the Davis County Jail on charges of aggravated assault and other crimes. Court records indicate the 51-year-old remains in custody without bail.
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