Two brothers who were shot multiple times before dawn Saturday in a Riverton alleyway had not identified their assailant by Saturday afternoon, but only one was physically unable to do so.
The Riverton Police Department does not yet have a suspect in the shooting that occurred at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday, RPD Chief Eric Murphy told Cowboy State Daily.
One brother was shot “at least three to four times,” while the other was shot either two or three times, both in an alleyway behind a gas station abutting Riverton City Park.
The pair went into the gas station to call 911, then were taken for emergency care and later life-flighted to Casper.
Both were alive early Saturday afternoon, but had “severe” injuries, said Murphy.
The brothers have been silent about their attacker’s identity for different reasons.
“The guy shot in the chest is (not speaking) due to his medical condition,” said Murphy. “The other brother just isn’t talking.”
RPD is arranging for a Casper Police Department detective to visit the hospital where the men are receiving care.
Murphy said he was not yet prepared to disclose the caliber of handgun used to shoot the men.
“We are literally still just boots on the ground, trying to get a neighborhood canvas right now, find out if anybody had video – we’re still trying to get all that figured out,” he said.
The gas station security footage shows the men seeking help, but Murphy is hoping other buildings in the area had video capture.
‘People Cannot Be Respectful’
In his initial post to RPD’s Facebook page, Murphy said he was weary of what he described as counter-productive community responses to real-time problems.
“Apparently people cannot be respectful when I put out information to the public and I unfortunately have to spend my time editing or removing people’s comments instead of helping officers with the actual crime,” Murphy had posted, adding, “this will be the last thing that is posted about crimes in our community.”
Murphy told Cowboy State Daily that community members have long used the comments section under police announcements to insult and attack one another instead of helping the police and fellow community members address the effects of crime.
He asked residents to help by scouring their memories for anything that could be related to the case.
“Call us with information,” he said. “Most of the time, stuff like this is solved by the smallest detail that you can’t even imagine.”
Anyone who was in the area and awake before 3:30 a.m. should consider every memory, every pedestrian, every small detail from those moments, Murphy said.
“It’s always the smallest things that you wouldn’t think could help solve crimes, that help us solve it, every time.”
