Idaho man pleads guilty to 2020 MTC guard booth shooting
Courtesy Provo City Police Department
Provo City police officers respond to a report of shots fired at the Missionary Training Center on 900 East in Provo on Aug. 3, 2020.An Idaho man charged with firing bullets into the Provo Missionary Training Center guard booth in 2020 admitted guilt in the Fourth District Court in Provo on Tuesday.
Dallin William Litster, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder and five counts of felony discharge of a firearm.
His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 7.
Litster was charged with the crime on Jan. 22, over four years after the alleged incident.
According to a Provo police report, nine shots were fired in the early morning of Aug. 3, 2020, at the MTC main security booth by an individual driving what appeared to be a Subaru Outback.
A security guard said he had to jump to the ground to avoid being shot and was injured by broken glass. The MTC was temporarily closed at the time due to COVID-19.
Provo police said it worked with BYU police and reviewed the evidence, including camera footage, and interviewed the guard but were unable to identify a suspect or the involved vehicle.
A break in the case came in May 2024, when Litster confessed to the shooting while being transported to a Twin Falls jail by an officer, according to Provo police.
“(Litster) spontaneously stated that he had shot up a booth near the Missionary Training Center, in Provo, Utah, during covid. Defendant stated that the booth was empty when he shot into it and it was not a drive by, just vandalism,” court documents read.
The county attorney’s office said a Utah Valley University detective found Litster had been enrolled at UVU for the 2020 fall semester. Soon after the incident, he moved to Georgia and later to Idaho.
Court documents stated several of Litster’s former roommates in 2020 told police Litster was negative about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had prior issues with missionaries. Litster’s mother said he drove an off-white Subaru Outback and had firearms and mental health issues.
A Provo detective found a 2007 gold Subaru Outback that was once registered to Litster’s father and had Idaho license plates. It appeared to match the vehicle from the surveillance footage.
In a Wednesday release, Provo police thanked the Twin Falls Sheriff’s Office for assisting in the case.
“Without their Deputy’s follow-though and documentation of the utterances made by Litster during transportation, the case would likely have remained unsolved. We also acknowledge and appreciate the partnership and assistance of the BYU Police Department throughout the investigation.”
