{
  "id": "2016-12-29-university-of-utah-research-park-domestic-violence-shooting",
  "slug": "university-of-utah-research-park-domestic-violence-shooting-2016-12-29",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Utah",
    "shortName": "Utah",
    "state": "UT",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "Campus Alert",
    "enrollment": 33000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2016-12-29",
    "type": "domestic-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "A Husband Finds His Estranged Wife in a Research Park Parking Lot; the Only Warning Was an Intercom Announcement",
    "summary": "Richard Peralta, 25, shot and killed his estranged wife, Katherine Peralta, 23, [in the parking lot of ARUP Laboratories](https://www.fox13now.com/2016/12/29/police-respond-after-reported-shooting-on-university-of-utah-campus) at the University of Utah's Research Park before turning the gun on himself. Katherine had recently told her husband she planned to [file for divorce](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4765548&itype=CMSID). The response was contained to the ARUP building itself: an employee reported an internal 'Code Purple' intercom announcement [around 5:10 p.m., lifted about 5:50 p.m.](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4762770&itype=CMSID); no campus-wide University of Utah alert for this incident could be independently confirmed.",
    "outcome": "Katherine Peralta died at the scene. Richard Peralta was transported to University Hospital, where he later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. University of Utah Police Chief Dale Brophy stated there was no continuing threat to the campus community.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 0
    },
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Around 5:10 PM MST on December 29, 2016, shortly after the shooting",
      "channel": "pa-system",
      "verbatimText": "Code Purple.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4762770&itype=CMSID",
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from the Salt Lake Tribune's account of an ARUP Laboratories employee describing an internal intercom announcement",
      "annotations": [
        "'Code Purple' was ARUP Laboratories' own internal lockdown code, announced over the building's intercom system, not a University of Utah campus-wide alert; no campus-wide text, email, or siren alert for this incident could be independently confirmed in any available source",
        "The Salt Lake Tribune reported the announcement came around 5:10 PM MST, close behind the shooting itself, and was lifted around 5:50 PM MST when employees began exiting the building",
        "ARUP Laboratories sits on University-owned land at the University of Utah's Research Park but is a separately incorporated, University-affiliated nonprofit reference lab with its own internal notification protocol distinct from the university's broader alert systems",
        "An earlier version of this record incorrectly attributed a campus-wide 'shots fired' shelter-in-place alert to this incident, based on a news URL that on closer review describes an unrelated October 2017 shooting near Red Butte Canyon; that claim has been removed"
      ],
      "characterCount": 12
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the evening of December 29, 2016, Richard Peralta approached his estranged wife, Katherine Peralta, in the [west parking lot of ARUP Laboratories](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/university-of-utah-murder-suicide-married-couple-shot-dead-in-in-parking-lot/) at the University of Utah's Research Park, shooting her multiple times before shooting himself. Police responded to the scene around 5 p.m.; the ARUP building itself was placed under an internal lockdown that lasted [less than an hour](https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2016/12/29/breaking-one-confirmed-dead-research-park-shooting-another-critical-condition/). Katherine's family said she had recently separated from her husband and had confided that she [feared for her safety and her unborn child's safety](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4765548&itype=CMSID), telling relatives she planned to file for divorce in January. Under the Clery Act, domestic violence is defined to include violence by a current or former spouse, distinguishing this case from the ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend dating-violence cases more commonly documented in campus alert archives. In the days after the shooting, [KSL reported that faculty concerns prompted the University to add police patrols](https://www.ksl.com/article/46216305) around Research Park, an acknowledgment that the incident had shaken confidence in the area's security even though the perpetrator was no longer a threat.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "This is a spousal domestic-violence homicide, meeting the Clery Act's definition of domestic violence as violence by a 'current or former spouse,' distinct from the ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend dating-violence pattern that dominates most campus domestic-violence cases",
    "The only confirmed emergency communication was an internal 'Code Purple' intercom announcement inside ARUP Laboratories itself, lifted within about 40 minutes; no campus-wide University of Utah text, email, or siren alert for this incident could be independently confirmed",
    "The shooting occurred at ARUP Laboratories, a University of Utah-affiliated nonprofit reference lab in Research Park, illustrating how campus alert geography extends to affiliated, university-owned-land facilities beyond classroom buildings",
    "The university added police patrols to Research Park in the incident's aftermath in response to faculty safety concerns"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Woman killed by husband at University of Utah planned to leave him, family says (The Salt Lake Tribune)",
      "url": "https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4765548&itype=CMSID",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Husband and wife die after University of Utah shooting, police say (The Salt Lake Tribune)",
      "url": "https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4762770&itype=CMSID",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Fatal Shooting in Research Park (The Daily Utah Chronicle)",
      "url": "https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2016/12/29/breaking-one-confirmed-dead-research-park-shooting-another-critical-condition/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Man kills wife, then himself at University of Utah Research Park, police say (Fox 13 Now)",
      "url": "https://www.fox13now.com/2016/12/29/police-respond-after-reported-shooting-on-university-of-utah-campus",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Married couple shot dead in suspected murder-suicide in University of Utah parking lot (CBS News)",
      "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/university-of-utah-murder-suicide-married-couple-shot-dead-in-in-parking-lot/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Faculty concerns prompt added patrols at U. Research Park (KSL)",
      "url": "https://www.ksl.com/article/46216305",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "domestic-violence",
    "spousal-homicide",
    "murder-suicide",
    "research-park",
    "internal-lockdown",
    "utah",
    "fatality",
    "lockdown",
    "2016"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-03",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}