By Jimmy Orr and Bill Sniffin
A shootout in Lander during a traffic stop on Friday left a 24-year-old man dead and a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper injured.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol said the shooting occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Sinks Canyon Road in Lander.
“The trooper conducted a traffic stop and moments into the stop, the trooper and the suspect exchanged gunfire,” a spokesman for the patrol said.
According to reports, the suspect was declared dead at the scene while the trooper was taken to a local hospital for treatment of his wounds.
The mayor of Lander, Monte Richardson, was directing traffic near the incident. He told Cowboy State Daily he heard a man was killed and an officer was down.
On Saturday, the Highway Patrol announced the trooper was released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Jill Hunter, who lives in the house across from the incident, said she saw a man lying the ground and officials trying to resuscitate him. She said the road was closed for a long period of time.
A Rock Springs resident who was visiting Lander said “the streets were screaming with sirens from every direction.”
“I thought I was in New York City for a minute,” DA Jereb said. “I didn’t realize that Lander had so many law enforcement ready to respond so quickly. I was impressed and at the time, I knew it had to be something serious.”
Andy Gramlich, a retired pilot who lives nearby, said he counted 17 various law enforcement vehicles and sirens sounded for more than an hour.
Names of those involved and details about the traffic stop have not been released.
The matter has been turned over to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.
