Prosecutors say a pre-dawn clash over a stolen electric bicycle turned deadly outside Salt Lake City’s East High School, leaving one man dead and another facing a murder charge.
Investigators allege that just after 5 a.m. on Jan. 13, 23-year-old Shane Hagaman fired from the second-floor balcony of his apartment at a man riding off on his e-bike. The rider, identified by police as 42-year-old Tyson Scott Babb, was later dropped at a local hospital in critical condition and died shortly after from a gunshot wound to his back, according to police accounts. Authorities say the shots were fired as Babb tried to flee with the bike.
Charges and evidence
Hagaman is now charged in 3rd District Court with one count of murder and seven counts of discharge of a firearm, according to KSL. Charging documents state that officers recovered eight 9mm shell casings, a Glock 19 handgun, a Magnum e-bike and a cut bicycle lock on the upstairs porch of Hagaman’s apartment.
The filing alleges Hagaman fired eight times, striking Babb once in the back, conduct the affidavit describes as creating a “grave risk of death” to the victim and others nearby.
How investigators say it unfolded
Salt Lake City police say the shooting happened near 750 South and 1300 East, where officers found evidence markers on the ground and a broken bike lock by a handrail, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune. The address is a short walk from East High’s campus, adding a jolt of early-morning drama to a normally quiet stretch of the neighborhood.
In an arrest affidavit obtained by Gephardt Daily, Hagaman reportedly told dispatchers, “A man just tried to steal my bike. I shot him,” and said the wounded man was taken from the scene in a white Toyota Tacoma and driven to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Court status
Hagaman was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail and ordered held without bail, according to FOX13. Court records show the case has been filed in 3rd District Court, where prosecutors are reviewing the charging documents and deciding how to proceed in the coming weeks.
Legal context
The case is likely to put Utah’s self-defense laws under a bright spotlight. State statutes generally allow people to use non-deadly force to protect property, but reserve deadly force for situations where it is needed to prevent death, serious bodily injury, or certain forcible felonies.
Any self-defense claim is expected to hinge on whether prosecutors can prove the shooting did not meet those legal thresholds. The key language appears in Utah’s criminal code, and Law.justia provides the statute text that courts will be weighing against the facts in Hagaman’s case.
Neighborhood and school impact
The shooting briefly prompted extra police patrols around East High School, though officials said classes continued on schedule and the campus was not placed on lockdown, according to FOX13. Even so, it was hardly a routine morning for students walking past crime-scene tape on their way to first period.
Local reporters noted yellow tape stretched across a nearby driveway and a bicycle left in a convenience-store parking lot as detectives worked the scene and collected evidence, as documented by The Salt Lake Tribune.
What comes next
Hagaman remains in custody while prosecutors prepare the case and consider whether to pursue a first-degree murder prosecution. The arrest affidavit’s description that his actions created a “grave risk of death” is expected to be a central issue as the case moves forward, Gephardt Daily reports.
Hoodline previously covered the initial developments in the case, including Hagaman’s arrest and booking, in its initial arrest roundup, which outlined early details of the fatal bike-theft dispute near East High.
