LEEDS – The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and emergency responders were dispatched to the area of Silverado Court in Leeds Thursday night when the St. George Communications Center received a call at 8:16 p.m. reporting a shooting had occurred.
“A male, armed with a gun, reportedly confronted a neighbor and was shot by the neighbor,” Washington County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Shauna Jones wrote in a statement released Thursday night. “He was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Sheriff’s Deputies immediately blocked off the area, and along with The Washington County Attorney’s Office, began investigating the incident. In a statement released Friday afternoon by The Washington County Sheriff’s Office the victim of the shooting has been identified as Stephen Aizenberg, 70, of Leeds.
According to the release, Aizenberg walked from his house to his neighbor’s house, armed with a handgun. Witnesses told Washington County Detectives that Aizenberg walked down his neighbor’s driveway, toward their house, with his weapon pointed at the occupants, who had called 911.
Another guy and several women were visiting Aizenberg’s neighbor, and those visitors did not know Aizenberg or why he was approaching them with a gun aimed at them, according to the statement.
The release said that the man who was visiting shot Aizenberg when Aizenberg continued to approach them with his firearm aimed at them. Detectives have been unable to determine why Aizenberg confronted his neighbor’s visitors while armed.
There is no evidence of any prior confrontations or conflicts between Aizenberg, his neighbors, or their visitors, the Sheriff’s Office statement said. The man who shot Aizenberg remained on scene and cooperated with the investigation. The Sheriff’s Office said he has not been arrested.
Detectives are continuing their investigation and conducting interviews to try and determine what led up to Aizenberg’s actions. The case will be referred to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review when the investigation is complete.
Ed. note: Correction made: Eisenberg’s home is on Silverado Court, not Circle.
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FISHY FISHY FISHY… WHY WOULD THEY JUST STAND THERE WHILE A GUY WAS WALKING UP TO THEM WITH A GUN? WOULD THEY NOT HAVE RAN INTO THE HOUSE? MAYBE THE COMPLETE STORY WILL SEEM LESS FISHY..
“Another guy”?? Is that really good journalistic writing?
Sure Chris,that is reported speech, how the Sheriff’s Office described that aspect of the investigation.
😀
Joyce
EIC
There seems to be a lot of casual speech from law enforcement spokes people. I was amused with “So, it was like, was there a struggle…?” from the Mojave County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman in the first hitchhiker shooting article.
If that is how the Sherriff’s office described it, the phrase should have been in quotes. I am sorry, but this is very poor journalism.
This is a unfortunate incident. But when any individual confronts another with a handgun pointed/aimed at that individual, you can usually rest assured that the individual doing the confronting….will get shot. Sad, but I will venture to say that the 70 year old gentleman did not have all his senses about him at that particular instant. RIP oldtimer.
So he wasn’t shot by the neighbor, but rather by a guy visiting the neighbor? Right? So was he maybe trying to protect his neighbor’s property; perceiving the visitors to be a threat?
You protect your neighbor’s property by calling the police. He was not personally threatened on his own property, and had no right to take the law in his own hands.
Unfortunately, he met with another of Utah’s “good guys with a gun”.
Guns are the magic that enrich all of our lives. More guns, more happiness. Arm the kids, arm the homeless, arm the widows, guns for all!
Wow this was a poorly written article
@el jefe. RIP old timer! really!!! Could not the visitor have shot to maim. Hooligan!
Or he could have just shot the gun from his hand, like in the movies. That is sarcastic, if you don’t get it.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO WEEEEEEEEEEEE ,,,,,,,,, JUST LIKE AN OLD FASHIONED WILD WEST SHOOTOUT ,,,,,,,,,, YEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GIT ‘EM COWBOY
I wish people would not be so inconsiderate, and maybe think about that steve has two young children 13 and 15. At some point these kids will see these ridiculous post. There was no Malice intended, it’s simple steve obviously thought someone might have been trying to rob his neighbor. He simply went over to investigate it could’ve been handled in many ways but unfortunately the way he went about it he paid the ultimate price. Let him and his family rest in piece.
Given some event transpiring (gun shot, domestic dispute, etc.) most people stick their heads in the sand. A rare few people with some guts check out what’s going on. I would say Steve had guts and was checking on something happening at the neighbor house. Given Steve’s well recognized solid character, obviously interrupted dinner, dog running into the house, and calm walk down his driveway, a domestic dispute or other event, that caused him concern, appears most probable and exactly what needs investigation. Why would an ex cop feel so threatened by a calm and rational person (gun or no gun) checking on a commotion of some kind that he would shoot to kill the investigator? This incident needs to be thoroughly investigated.