By Leo Wolfson, State Politics Reporter
Leo@Cowboystatedaily.com
Nina Webber, a Wyoming Republican Party national committeewoman and two-time state House candidate from Cody, is facing misdemeanor charges for reckless endangering while hunting.
Webber, 58, was cited by the Park County Sheriff’s Office along the North Fork Highway outside Wapiti in the early morning hours of Nov. 30.
According to the Powell Tribune, Trout Creek Ranch Manager Cory Williams said he and his wife were forced to seek cover outside their home that morning as bullets rained down on him and his wife. They came from a group of hunters shooting on the opposite, southern side of the North Fork Highway.
Williams said one bullet “whizzed” by his head.
‘Unsafe Hunting’
Williams said he heard about two dozen shots fired as elk congregated on nearby private land near the town’s post office.
Park County Sheriff Scott Steward said although the shots went across the highway, there were no animals on the north side of the road. He also said there were several dead elk at the scene.
The sheriff’s office posted about the event on its social media last week, describing it as an “unsafe hunting” incident.
Shooting across a highway also is illegal in Wyoming.
Webber and her boyfriend, Scott Weber, who runs an online firearms auction site, routinely post on social media about their hunting exploits.
On Dec. 1, the day after Webber was cited, a woman thanked Webber on Facebook for helping her husband harvest an elk during their trip to Cody.
Will ‘Fight These Allegations’
If found guilty, Webber could face up to one year imprisonment.
Webber told Cowboy State Daily, “I have retained an attorney to fight these allegations.”
Wyoming law defines reckless endangerment as a reckless engagement of conduct which places another person in danger of death or serious bodily injury. Any person who knowingly points a firearm at or in the direction of another, whether or not the person believes the firearm is loaded, can also be found guilty of reckless endangerment.
Next Court Hearing
The one exception is when a person can argue their actions were reasonably necessary in defending themselves, property, their home, or to prevent serious bodily injury to another.
Webber is scheduled for a Jan. 6 arraignment in Park County Circuit Court before Judge Joseph Darrah.
Webber ran against Rep. Sandy Newsome, R-Cody, in the House 24 Republican primary this August, a rematch of the 2020 race. Although this year’s election was much closer than 2020, Webber lost by 83 votes.
She then contested the results of the election, demanding a recount. A recount was performed at her expense, with the exact same results returning.
