Police: Utah teacher fatally shot in school parking lot; 70-year-old woman arrested

Police: Utah teacher fatally shot in parking lot

SALT LAKE CITY — A teacher was shot and fatally wounded in the parking lot of her preschool Friday, and a 70-year-old woman accused in the attack called 911 and then calmly waited for police, authorities said.

Tetyana Nikitina, 34, a single mother of two children, was rushed to Intermountain Medical Center but died of her wounds, officials said.

Police Lt. Don Hutson told The Associated Press in an interview that the suspect knew the victim but investigators were trying to determine their exact relationship.

Several shots were fired at the teacher as she prepared to leave in her car from the Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start. No children were at the school, but teachers were there for training.

“One of the teachers was in the rear parking lot … when an elderly woman came up and confronted her and eventually ended up firing multiple rounds from a handgun,” Hutson said. He said Mikitina was hit by at least two bullets.

“That woman remained at the scene and also called 911 shortly after the shooting,” he said. When police arrived she “set the gun down and gave up.”

Police recovered five shell casings in the parking lot and five bullets remained in the .38 caliber handgun, Hutson said.

Authorities only identified the suspect as a 70-year-old Taylorsville resident, but the Salt Lake Tribune gave her name as M. Nance Hanson.

Nikitina taught young kids at the program for two years.

AP writer Jackie Quinn in Washington and the Salt Lake Tribune contributed to this report