This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
About three hours before Jeremy Patterson shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and her son on a Sandy street, police in Draper briefly investigated a tip about Patterson.
At about 12:30 p.m. June 6, an anonymous tipster told a Draper officer she had recently received a message from Patterson — who lived in Draper — saying he had broken up with his girlfriend — and that he wanted to kill the girlfriend and then himself.
The police report was provided Wednesday in response to a public records request from The Salt Lake Tribune.
At about 3:45 p.m. that same day, Patterson, 32, killed 39-year-old Memorez Rackley, his ex-girlfriend, and her 6-year-old son. He then shot and killed himself.
The tipster had requested anonymity, saying she was concerned that she was in danger for knowing about the threat, according to the police report. The report also states that the officer tried to reach out to the tipster by phone to obtain more information, but got no answer.
The officer wrote that he checked police databases to obtain more information on Patterson, to no avail. The tipster had said she did not have an address for Patterson, the report said.
"Without an age or address it was unknown who or if there was a problem" with Patterson, the officer wrote.
The shooting occurred shortly after Rackley had picked up Jase and his 11-year-old brother, Myles, at Brookwood Elementary School. Myles was critically wounded in the shooting, but is expected to recover. The 8-year-old daughter of another woman, who had given the Rackleys a ride, was shot in the leg.
Patterson rammed the SUV in which Rackley and her children were riding. He then opened fire in the middle of a busy street, where he eventually shot and killed himself, police say.
Documents and 911 tapes released Tuesday by Sandy police reveal that in the days before the shooting, Memorez Rackley was relentlessly stalked and threatened by Patterson, whom Rackley referred to as her ex-boyfriend.
Rackley called police June 3 at 2:30 a.m., saying Patterson — whom she had recently broken up with — had been harassing her for hours via text message. The afternoon before, she said, Patterson unexpectedly showed up at her nail salon appointment to confront her about the breakup, and prior to that, he'd followed her for nearly an hour while she was driving around Sandy with one of her young sons, according to police reports released to The Salt Lake Tribune in response to a public records request.
"It's just continual, he won't stop, and it's gotten to the point where he's threatened me, he's threatened the safety of my children, and I don't know what to do," Rackley told a Sandy dispatcher, according to a recording of a 911 call provided to The Tribune.
On June 3, Rackley also told police that Patterson made "multiple threats" over the phone, and that she "feared for her safety." She said Patterson had mentioned in the texts that he had guns, and he sent her photographs of her three boys, which she perceived as a threat against them. She said she was home alone.
Rackley initially declined to provide authorities with Patterson's name, and she asked officers not to contact him, "because I worry if they go knock on his door, he's going to come hunt me and my kids down."
"I'm pretty scared for my safety, and my children's safety, and I'm not quite sure what I need to do to report that, or try to keep myself safe," she said in the 911 call.
An officer told Rackley an extra patrol would be added to keep an eye on her home. And he informed her how she could petition for a protective order against Patterson.
About a half-hour after her initial phone conversation with the officer, police responded to the Rackley home, according to the report. Rackley told officers she thought Patterson had just been at her home and was wiggling the door handle. Police searched the area, but couldn't find him. They told Rackley she should stay at a friend's home until she could obtain the protective order.
Later on June 3, Rackley called police a third time. She told them Patterson had just followed one of her friends home from work in an effort to figure out where she was.
Rackley then said she had changed her mind: She did want police to contact Patterson "to let him know she did not want to see him and that he should not contact her."
Rackley gave police Patterson's phone number, and an officer wrote in his report that he soon talked to Patterson, who acknowledged he had been trying to find Rackley. Patterson said they had broken up the day before, and he wanted to talk with her about what happened.
After the officer informed him Rackley didn't want to hear from him, Patterson told the officer he understood and would stop calling and texting her.
Rackley told police she would get the protective order Monday, as soon as the courts open. But court records do not show that a protective order was issued.
Just prior to the shooting, Rackley and Patterson were seen by neighbors in an argument on Alta Canyon Drive as Rackley walked the boys home from school. Rackley waved down an unidentified woman driving an SUV, and asked for help. The mother and boys jumped in; Patterson then sped off in his pickup truck.
Moments later, according to witnesses, Patterson returned in the truck, and a chase ensued. About a quarter-mile away, police say Patterson rammed the SUV, then jumped out and opened fire into the vehicle. Moments later, Patterson fatally shot himself.
In Instagram posts leading up to the shooting, Patterson wrote that he loved Rackley and lamented she had kept their relationship a secret. "I don't think anyone deserves to be kept a secret," he wrote.
Rackley and her husband underwent a quiet separation some time before the shooting, friends have said, though they still supported their three boys at school events and soccer games.
Rackley lived in the family's Sandy home near Brookwood Elementary School, around the corner from the scene of the shooting, while her husband, Dustin Rackley, had moved to a different residence in Sandy.
Patterson, an avid bodybuilder, lived in Draper and worked at a car dealership. Patterson and Rackley were both passionate about fitness, and shared a personal trainer. It is unknown how long they had dated; some of Rackley's friends have said they were unaware of the relationship.
Twitter: @lramseth