A Lehi woman was killed Sunday morning when police say her estranged husband appeared in the parking lot of the woman's church building as she was arriving for meetings and shot her multiple times with a handgun.

Kristy K. Ragsdale, who turned 30 years old Sunday, was shot as she and another woman were exiting a vehicle to attend worship services at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse at 1691 E. 900 North in Lehi, said Lehi police Sgt. Jeff Swenson. The victim was dead when officers first arrived on the scene after getting the call at 11:10 a.m.

Police said Ragsdale's husband, David L. Ragsdale, 35, fired an as-yet-unknown number of rounds from a 9 mm automatic handgun at the victim.

"There was no confrontation, nothing was said," Swenson said. "He just opened fire and multiple rounds hit her."

Initial ballistics information from the investigation indicated that the suspect at one point stood over the victim as he fired off rounds into her, he said.

Officers immediately began looking for the suspect David Ragsdale, who they had been told was driving a silver BMW. Within minutes of the shooting, Ragsdale contacted Lehi police Chief Chad Smith and communicated his intention to turn himself in. Swenson said a family member or friend drove David Ragsdale from the Traverse Mountain development in Lehi to the Lehi police station where the suspect was arrested and taken into custody.

Swenson said Lehi police had responded to the woman's Lehi home on domestic disturbance calls between the victim and David Ragsdale in the last two months, however no violence had been reported.

According to court records, Kristy Ragsdale filed for a protective order against David Ragsdale on Dec. 4, and she was issued a temporary protective order against him the next day. The parties met in court Dec. 20 and upon mutual agreement, the protective order was dismissed and a restraining order was put in place.

"They were in the process of getting a divorce," Swenson said.

The couple had been separated with Kristy Ragsdale living in Lehi and David Ragsdale living in Draper, he said. The couple's two young children were in Draper with family members at the time of the shooting.

Swenson said David Ragsdale has no prior criminal history and anticipated the suspect would be booked into the Utah County Jail sometime Sunday night. A murder charge would likely be pending against David Ragsdale along with possible other charges after consulting with the Utah County Attorney's Office, he said.

Considering the nature of the shooting in the parking lot of a church building, Swenson said authorities were fortunate that no others victims were hit by the rounds.

The only other violent murder Swenson could remember on such a public scale was a construction worker who shot and killed his boss in 2004.

"It's an unheard of thing," he said. "It's hard to comprehend."

Peggy Lowe, a neighbor who lives immediately to the south of the church, said neither she nor her husband heard any gunshots Sunday morning. Church members meeting at the time were told there was shooting in the parking lot, said a prayer and were dismissed.

"The sad thing is those kids lost two parents today," she said.

Related

• David Ragsdale's parole hearing set for 2038