Sulejman Talović

Sulejman Talović
File:Ut trolley talovic.jpg Family photo of Talović (2007)
Status	Deceased
Occupation	Aramark Uniform Services
Spouse	None
Children	None
Parent	Father Suljo Talović / Mother
Criminal charge	Died at the scene before arrested or indicted

Sulejman Talović (October 6, 1988 – February 12, 2007) was a Bosniak refugee whose family moved to the United States from the small town of Cerska in the Vlasenica municipality of Bosnia and Herzegovina and who were living in Salt Lake City, Utah. On February 12, 2007, wearing a tan trench coat, Talović went on a shooting rampage killing five people and wounding several others at Trolley Square, a Salt Lake City shopping mall, before being fatally shot by police. An amateur video of the incident was captured, but little except gunfire can be heard clearly.

Talović was buried in his birthplace, a small village of Talovići near Cerska, Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 2, 2007.

The shooting spree

Main article: Trolley Square shooting

Police later said Talović was carrying a shotgun, a .38-caliber pistol, and had a backpack full of ammunition. Talović killed five people: Jeffrey Walker, 52, Vanessa Quinn, 29, Kirsten Hinckley, 15, Teresa Ellis, 29, and Brad Frantz, 24. Additionally, four more people were hospitalized: Allen Walker, 16, son of Jeffrey Walker; Carolyn Tuft, 44, mother of Kirsten Hinckley; Shawn Munns, 34; and Stacy Hansen, 53. After the shooting, Tuft and Hansen were listed in critical condition, and Munns and Walker were listed in serious condition.

Four police officers—an off-duty officer from Ogden named Ken Hammond and several Salt Lake City officers—were involved in the shootout with Talović.

Personal history

Talović was a permanent resident who emigrated with his family from Bosnia to the United States in 1998. Talović received a green card in 2005 and lived with his mother in Salt Lake City. He had a record of minor juvenile incidents and had dropped out of high school at age 16..

Motive

Talović's aunt, Ajka Omerović, emerged briefly from the family's house to say relatives had no idea why the young man attacked so many strangers. She said that Talović had lived in the Sarajevo area as a child, and that his family moved to Utah from Bosnia. "He was such a good boy. I don't know what happened," she told Salt Lake City television station KSL-TV.

In another KSL interview, with Omerović, and Talović's father, Suljo Talović, the two indicated concern that some outside influence might have induced Sulejman to commit the killings. "I think this [Sulejman] did. I think somebody (is) behind him, I think, but I am not sure...."

The father suggested that the US government bears some responsibility for his son's actions, saying "The authorities are guilty for not alerting us that he bought a gun. In the US, you cannot buy cigarettes if you are underaged, but you can buy a gun." However, contrary to Mr. Talović's statement, federal law prohibits the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition to those under 21; shotguns and shotgun ammunition are prohibited to those under 18.

In the light of the War on Terrorism some conservatives, including commentator John Gibson and congressman Chris Cannon suggested that Talović repeatedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" prior to his death, suggesting a religious motive. Some sources reach this conclusion by listening to online video of the rampage, which supposedly captures Talović's religious shouting. Some family members suggested that emotional trauma Sulejman may have suffered during the Balkan war years of his youth might have contributed to this shocking act of violence. Ajka Onerović was quoted as saying, "We are Muslims, but we are not terrorists," and FBI agent Patrick Kiernan has stated that he has no reason to suspect terrorism.