On Nov. 2, there was a shooting approximately 2 miles up the Hiawatha road. The shooting took place in a hay field. There is also a house on the property. On Nov. 3, Carbon County Sheriff Jeff Wood held a press conference. He said he wasn’t good at that type of thing and these types of incidents are rare in the area. Dispatch was notified at 5:53 p.m. and rushed to the scene.
A 25 year old male, Seth Gordon Peterson is the suspect in custody. He reportedly shot his mother, Susan Hansen Peterson, age 45 and a younger brother James Peterson age 23. Wood said the mother was at the ranch to apparently pick up her son at the time of the shooting. Deputies proceeded to the scene where they discovered two victims.
After the shooting the suspect jumped in a vehicle and headed up the Hiawatha road where he was apprehended without further trouble. The Utah Highway Patrol and the Price City Police and other agencies were involved in securing the outlet roads for the Hiawatha road, including the Mohrland road and the Berma Road where the high speed chase came to an end in Emery County.
Susan Hansen is a resident of Ferron.
Wood said the suspect has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder-third degree felony and one count of attempted murder-third degree felony, theft of a motor vehicle, failure to stop at the command of a police officer. There was no bail set at the current time and the Carbon County Attorney will set the bail. Sheriff
Wood said they do not have a motive at this time. All they know is the mother was picking up her son. High power rifles were recovered at the scene.
The owners of the property do not have the same name as the victims in the case reported Sheriff Wood.
The sheriff’s deputies have been going through a walk-through of the scene with the eyewitnesses to determine exactly what happened. There are a number of scenes the investigators are going over to obtain evidence. The field, a hilltop and the site where the suspect was apprehended are being investigated.
The suspect was followed for a few miles and then the suspect exited his vehicle, fled on foot and he was apprehended.
Sheriff Wood said there was a prior 911 call from the ranch three hours earlier to this incident. This call was made by witnesses. This was settled and it was a non-violent matter. It wasn’t known to Sheriff Wood who this incident involved.
Sheriff Wood said he didn’t know if there were any drugs or alcohol involved in the shooting incident. Sheriff Wood said the owners he knew that had the ranch at one time was the Feichko ranch. He doesn’t know the names of the current owners of the ranch. Sheriff Wood said they do not know what Seth Peterson was doing at the ranch. Sheriff Wood said at that time they hadn’t attempted to speak with the suspect. Sheriff Wood said there are more than three eyewitnesses. They are still looking for one of the witnesses to interview.
At the request of Susan’s husband, Shane Peterson, their LDS Bishop offers the following statement from the Peterson family:
Susan was a loving mother of 15 children, ages 28 to 3.
She was very active in the community and in her church. Susan was very service oriented and was always taking care of other people. She was a very intelligent person, always thirsting for knowledge in bettering herself and her family. Her family was her whole life and she supported them in all they did. Susan always thought of others before herself. Her husband states that she would often go without new clothing and other necessities in order to make sure her children had what they needed. She never wanted for herself.
James was kind-hearted and would give you the shirt off his back. He was very personable, kind, respectful and thoughtful of others.
A GoFundMe account has been set up in the name of Susan and James Peterson. www.gofundme.com/2xa5xn0 Susan and James Peterson.
The family requests privacy at this time as they deal with their loss.
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