Just days before 39-year-old Memorez Clark Rackley and her six-year-old son were fatally shot near her deceased kindergarten son’s elementary school in Sandy, UT, she reported harassment by Jeremy Patterson, according to Jason Nielson, a police sergeant. He said they had some type of relationship, which is still being investigated.
How and whether the two knew one another as friends, Nielson said, is not something the police are speculating. Though the nature of the relationship between Rackley and Patterson remains unclear, experts in Utah are reminding people about the seriousness and potential danger of Domestic Violence.
They urge anyone in immediate danger or in an emergency to call 911.
Police contacted shooter after harassment report
While filing the telephone harassment report on Saturday morning at approximately 2:34 a.m., Rackley asked officers to tell the 32-year-old Patterson to stop contacting her. Patterson was contacted by police, but Nielson declined commenting on details of the harassment or the outcome of the police’s conversation with Patterson.
Rackley, her kindergarten-age son, and Patterson all died after Patterson used the car he was driving to ram the car that Rackley and two of her sons were riding in when a Samaritan (unidentified by police) picked them up near Brookwood Elementary School and gave them a lift.
After ramming the car and bringing it to a complete stop in the roadway of a suburban neighborhood, Patterson opened fire, then shot himself.
Not only were she and her young son shot and killed, her 9-year-old son along with the Samaritan’s 8-year-old daughter were injured in the attack.
Impact of shooting deaths on deceased woman’s family
Jeff White, a spokesman for Rackley’s family, said Rackley had three sons – one now deceased and another suffering critical injuries. Her family is “reeling,” he said, from their losses and the injuries to her 9-year-old child.
Canyons School District spokesman Jeff Haney said the gunman also shot Rackley’s son who is in the fifth grade.
Tuesday night, he underwent reconstructive surgery on his jaw. According to Haney, the boy was supposed to have participated in the Brookwood Elementary school’s graduation ceremony yesterday.
Help after shooting for school children
Jordan Smith, a resident of Sandy, was close to the scene of the shooting and heard shots while she was driving on Alta Canyon Drive. She saw children walking home from school and went into action. She told a news station (2News) that she knew there was a gun and there was a shooter.
The children needed to get out of there, Smith said. She picked up two girls, opened her trunk and “pushed in” a group of boys. She reversed her car and backed down the street. After she took the children to a neighbor’s house, she assisted in reuniting the kids with their parents.
Yesterday was the last day of classes for schools in the Canyons School District. Many students were involved in graduation ceremonies after the shooting. Tory Gillet, a grief counselor, was on the scene Tuesday night and was available to help students and their parents yesterday.
In a statement Rackley’s family released yesterday, it stated that her family is heartbroken over the events and is supporting her injured son through his recovery. They also addressed the Samaritan who helped their family, saying they appreciate her help and extended their thoughts for her injured daughter.
A fund to help support memorial services for the Rackleys has been established at Mountain America Credit Union.
