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[{"type":"text","text":"Practicing for the Olympics..."}]

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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>You Still Here? Tuesday, April 11, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Practicing for the Olympics...

You Still Here?  Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Prosecutors say a man repeatedly shot two of his roommates with BB guns, beat one with a wooden walking cane, and even coerced a child into participating in one of the assaults before continuing the attack himself.

The criminal case against Pancho Villa Flores, born in 1971, is now moving forward with an arraignment scheduled for Aug. 5. 

He faces one felony count of aggravated assault and battery, one felony count of child abuse and two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment. 

The allegations, detailed in affidavits filed by the Cheyenne Police Department, describe two  victims who investigators say were assaulted days apart.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Multiple BB Wounds"}]

Police first became involved after officers responded to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center to speak with a man who arrived by ambulance.

Investigators documented puncture wounds across his back, buttocks, knees and right calf. Both knees were red and swollen, and hospital staff told police several BBs remained embedded in his body.

The man told officers Flores shot him repeatedly over several days using BB rifles.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It hurt like a sonofabitch,\" he told investigators."}]

He said the shots to his knees were the worst and left him unable to walk for a time.

The man also told police he was afraid to report the shootings because he feared Flores would "beat him up or kill him in retaliation."

The affidavit says the man had been living with Flores for about seven months. He told investigators Flores held power of attorney over him, received his Social Security benefits and deducted rent and other expenses before giving him what remained.

He said he was "lucky" if Flores gave him between $50 and $100 each month from those benefits and complained he had received only $20 that month.

When officers later went to Flores' residence, they reported seeing two rifles that appeared to be BB guns through the open front door. Police photographed the weapons from outside the home, then returned to the hospital, where the man identified them as the guns Flores used.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Blow A Cap In His Ass' "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"According to court documents, Flores denied shooting anyone."}]

Instead, he told investigators a juvenile identified only as L.R. had shot both him and his roommate.

But the child's account was dramatically different. L.R. told investigators Flores had bought him fishing and camping gear and recently took him camping.

After returning home June 21, the child said he was lying in the front yard when Flores came outside and claimed the man had failed to complete chores.

Flores then told the child he needed to "blow a cap in his ass," shows the affidavit. 

L.R. told police he refused, but said Flores responded by threatening to shoot him instead. 

The child told investigators Flores then fired the air rifle into his back, striking him just left of his spine and above his left buttock.

Afraid of being shot again, L.R. said he took the rifle and went into the basement, where Flores again instructed him to shoot the man.

[{"type":"text","text":"The child told investigators he was crying as Flores laughed."}]

Not wanting to seriously injure the man, the child said he intentionally shot him in the buttocks and calf.

Flores then took back  the rifle and allegedly continued shooting the man in the knees and back. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Second Roommate Hospitalized"}]

Less than a week later, detectives contacted another roommate at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.

He told investigators Flores assaulted him several days earlier after accusing him of stealing whiskey.

Flores allegedly forced his way into the second roommate's bedroom and struck him on the head with a wooden walking cane.

[{"type":"text","text":"The man said his head \"bled a lot,\" but he did not lose consciousness."}]

The next day, he told investigators Flores returned, entered his bedroom without saying anything and shot him in the lower back with a BB rifle while he was in bed.

[{"type":"text","text":"At first, the man did not seek treatment."}]

Over the next several days, the wound allegedly became red, swollen and increasingly painful.

He eventually went to the hospital June 25, where he was admitted for treatment of the infection. He remained hospitalized when detectives interviewed him June 29.

Investigators observed a healing cut on the man's head they said was consistent with his account of being struck by the cane.

They also documented a circular wound on his right flank where he told police doctors removed a BB.

He told them another BB remained lodged in his muscle and would require surgery to remove.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Case Moves Forward"}]

After the July 17 preliminary hearing, a judge found sufficient evidence to bind Flores' case over to district court.

He is charged with aggravated assault and battery, child abuse and two counts of reckless endangerment.

The two felony charges each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison under Wyoming law. The reckless endangerment charges are misdemeanors punishable by up to one year in jail.

Flores is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, Aug. 5 in Laramie County District Court.

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<title>Police: Cheyenne Man Shot Child With BB Rifle After Forcing Him To Shoot Roommate | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Police say a Cheyenne man forced a child to shoot his roommate, telling him to "blow a cap in his ass," before threatening and then turning a BB rifle on the boy. Pancho Villa Flores is now facing felony counts of assault and battery and child abuse.

Police: Cheyenne Man Shot Child With BB Rifle After Forcing Him To Shoot Roommate

Zakary Sonntag

Public Safety

 through a hospital emergency department last week cannot be criminally prosecuted because the attack was the direct result of severe mental illness, Sweetwater County Attorney Danny Erramouspe said Monday.

Wyoming law requires a person to have a necessary level of mental capacity and intent to be held criminally responsible for an act. The patient did not have that mental capacity, Erramouspe said.

“It was clear that due to this individual's severe mental illness we would not be able to prosecute," Erramouspe told Cowboy State Daily, adding in an official statement that it was not an easy decision.

“These are among the most difficult decisions prosecutors make. I never take any satisfaction in telling a victim that charges cannot be filed, but it is sometimes required by law and the facts.”

The explanation comes one week after Christian R., an emergency room nurse at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, was punched in the face after asking the patient if he’d taken his nighttime medication.

Christian, who asked Cowboy State Daily to withhold his last name, said the blow broke his nose and touched off a chase through the emergency department, where the patient repeatedly caught him and continued the attack by throwing more punches and kneeing him in the head and face. 

A security officer intervened as the chase reached the department lobby, allowing Christian to seek the safety of a locked supply closet. He was treated for a nasal fracture, facial injuries and bruising.

Before the attack, the patient had been committed to the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston, where he received psychiatric care under court order. The patient was being treated under Wyoming's Title 25 statute, the state's legal process for involuntarily hospitalizing people whose mental illness makes them a danger to themselves or others.

At some point, doctors determined his condition had improved enough to enter what is known as the convalescent phase of treatment, which serves as a transitional stage between inpatient hospitalization and full release. 

In this stage, the patient was returned to Sweetwater County and continued treatment through Southwest Counseling.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"But the transition did not go smoothly."}]

“Earlier in the day I had a separate conversation with the patient … and he was normal to me and didn’t pose a threat,” Christian said. “It wasn’t until the incident that it (changed).”

standard, a Latin term translated as a "guilty mind,” prosecutors must prove not only that a person committed a criminal act, but also that they possessed the mental capacity and intent necessary to be held responsible for it.

"We get cases like this periodically," Errasmoupse said. "Someone has dementia. Someone has a traumatic brain injury. Sometimes a special-education student with diminished mental capacity assaults a teacher or aide."

That does not automatically shield someone from criminal responsibility, but in this case, Erramouspe said, the patient's psychiatric condition was so central to the attack that criminal prosecution was not legally available.

"Sometimes people are injured and are victims of something that we can't ethically or legally charge," he said.

Civil Options Also Face Significant Hurdles

The county attorney's decision closes the door on criminal prosecution, but not necessarily every legal remedy.

Mark Aronowitz, a Jackson attorney with the Spence Law Firm and president of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, explained that civil lawsuits operate under a much lower burden of proof than criminal cases. 

Even so, Aronowitz said the path to a civil case would be complicated, beginning with the practical questions about a patients’ financial resources and ability to satisfy a judgment.

"Even if you prove they were negligent and breached their duty, is this someone you can even recover from?" He said.

Aronowitz explained that such an incident might be more likely to implicate institutional liability. Whether that liability exists here would depend on facts that are not yet publicly known, namely what providers knew about the patient's history before the assault.

"If this person has a known history of doing this, if there were five other assaults in the last year, then there might be accountability somewhere because someone could have done something to prevent the sixth time," Aronowitz said.

On the other hand, if the incident stemmed from an unexpected deterioration in the patient's condition, as the hospital implied, a civil suit would likely fail.

"If it's a one-off without any foreseeability, without any notice or knowledge, then it's hard to say to somebody, 'You should have seen this coming,'" he said.

Christian told Cowboy State Daily previously he intended to pursue criminal charges; he did not indicate an intention to pursue a civil lawsuit.. 

He is entitled to workers compensation, which would cover workplace-injury-related medical care as well as around two‑thirds of lost wages.

Christian’s misfortune highlights one of the most difficult realities in behavioral healthcare: predicting when a person is truly ready to return to the community.

Lindsay Simineo, executive director of the Wyoming Behavioral Health Alliance, said involuntary commitments may stabilize a person's condition, but it doesn’t mean a person's struggles are over.

Wyoming's Title 25 system is built around a difficult balance between public safety and individual liberty, she said.

"We want to be able to protect the public and protect people from themselves when they are in danger," Simineo said. "We also do not want to have a system that can take the rights of people easily."

The question hanging over the incident in Rock Springs is whether the assault reflects a failure by a provider, a facility, or Wyoming's broader mental-health system.

Simineo cautioned against assuming any one answer.

Mental illness is often not a one-time crisis, she said, but an ongoing cycle of stabilization, decline and renewed treatment.

"If somebody is considered chronically mentally ill, then you can see these repeated cycles of somebody becoming stable and then they go back," she said. "They can have a structured treatment plan that's given upon release, but if they don't engage with it, then yes, they are going to need additional support again."

At the same time, Simineo said providers can only control so much.

"Humans have free will and humans have choice," she said.

For that reason, she believes the more productive question might not be who failed, but what additional resources, safeguards or supports might prevent similar incidents.

"What did they need in addition?" she said. "What do they need in addition to make situations like this less frequent?"

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Erramouspe expressed a similar view."}]

"The mental health crisis is much larger than Title 25, and it's larger than what the Sweetwater County Attorney's Office can address," he said. "That's just the nature of mental health. Somebody has to deal with these patients, and many times it puts healthcare workers in a very dangerous situation."

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<title>County Attorney: Rock Springs Patient Who Broke Nurse's Nose Can't Be Prosecuted | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Sweetwater County's attorney says severe mental illness and Wyoming's legal standards for criminal responsibility make charges impossible despite a violent assault that left a Rock Springs nurse with a broken nose, facial injuries and bruising.

County Attorney: Rock Springs Patient Who Broke Nurse's Nose Can't Be Prosecuted

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Energy

Two significant workforce housing projects are likely to take shape in neighboring southwest Wyoming counties, but despite their proximity the developments are moving on separate tracks to serve two entirely different energy projects.

In Kemmerer, city leaders on Monday cleared another hurdle that could allow a temporary workforce housing hub for workers constructing TerraPower's advanced nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, about 120 miles to the southwest, Uinta County officials are considering a proposal for a much larger workforce camp to serve construction of a planned hyperscale data center near Evanston.

While both projects have drawn attention because of their size and potential economic impacts, Kemmerer Mayor Robert Bowen said the timing is largely coincidental.

"The whole point of a workforce hub is to keep people who work on the project close to the project," Bowen told Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Kemmerer Clears Zoning Hurdle"}]

The Kemmerer City Council on Monday approved the third and final reading of a zoning change for approximately 60 acres of private land known as the Fox King property, changing its designation from heavy industrial to light industrial.

The zoning change makes the property eligible to be considered as one possible location for temporary housing tied to TerraPower's Natrium reactor project.

Bowen said the property is included in a request for proposals being evaluated by Bechtel, the Virginia-based engineering and construction company considering a temporary workforce hub for the TerraPower project.

Bechtel will ultimately decide whether to move forward with the Fox King property or another proposed site, Bowen said.

"The city has no influence, no say," he said. "All of it is in their (Bechtel's) court."

If selected, the 60-acre site would help house up to 1,600 workers expected to descend on Kemmerer during the peak years of construction on the first commercial Natrium nuclear reactor in the United States.

The city of about 2,400 people is bracing for explosive growth with the first-of-its-kind sodium-cooled nuclear power plant under construction, 

Cowboy State Daily has previously reported

The property also offers an alternative to an undeveloped city-owned piece of land between the justice center and the Antelope Ridge subdivision. Residents of the subdivision have pushed back at recent city council meetings about a man camp on land adjacent to their neighborhood.

Multiple companies have been eyeing properties to house workers when the plant comes online around 2030.

[{"type":"text","text":"Bechtel did not return Cowboy State Daily's messages before publication."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Uinta County Proposal Advances"}]

At nearly the same time, officials in neighboring Uinta County took a significant step toward approving a workforce housing hub for a different project.

Last week, the Uinta County Planning and Zoning Commission approved a conditional use permit allowing Target Hospitality to move forward with plans for a temporary workforce housing community on county-owned land east of Evanston, adjacent to Bear River State Park.

The proposal now heads to the Uinta County Commission for final consideration.

If approved, the camp would house as many as 3,400 workers during construction of a nearby hyperscale data center. Under the permit, the housing complex could remain in place for up to five years during the project's primary construction phase.

Target Hospitality CEO Troy Schrenk has said the approximately 150-acre site was selected because of its access to Interstate 80 and its location about eight miles from the construction site.

The company estimates construction of the workforce housing hub would take about one year, with completion targeted for October 2027 if approvals continue on schedule.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Different Projects, Similar Challenges"}]

Although both proposals involve temporary housing for large construction workforces, they reflect a broader challenge facing Wyoming communities as billion-dollar industrial projects move forward in rural areas with limited housing inventories.

Purpose-built workforce housing can reduce pressure on local rental markets, hotels and other housing while keeping workers close to job sites. At the same time, such projects often generate debate over traffic, infrastructure demands, public safety and the eventual removal of the temporary facilities once construction winds down.

[{"type":"text","text":"For now, both southwest Wyoming projects remain works in progress."}]

Kemmerer's zoning action simply keeps one potential housing site in contention as Bechtel evaluates proposals, Bowen said. Meanwhile Uinta County's proposal still requires approval from county commissioners before construction can begin.

Terra Power construction 1 5 29 26 1

<title>Man Camps Moving Forward As Uinta And Lincoln Counties Build, Build, Build | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Potential man camps in neighboring Uinta and Lincoln counties are moving forward. Kemmerer cleared zoning for a workforce housing site for a nuclear power plant, while Uinta County is a step closer to a 3,400-bed camp for a hyperscale data center.

Man Camps Moving Forward As Uinta And Lincoln Counties Build, Build, Build

Families had gathered to watch Fourth of July fireworks at F.E. Warren Air Force Base when the celebration turned into a nightmare.

Just after 10 p.m. July 4, a 5-year-old girl watching the fireworks from the Trails End parking lot suddenly suffered what appeared to be a head injury. She was rushed to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, where doctors discovered a bullet lodged in one of her sinus cavities.

The girl, the daughter of an airman stationed at F.E. Warren, was later flown to Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, where physicians confirmed the object was indeed a bullet. Surgeons removed it, and she has since been discharged and is recovering with her family.

Now, nearly four weeks later, military and local investigators are asking the public for help in identifying who fired the shot.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at 307-432-2114.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Public Asked To Think Back"}]

Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins said investigators initially chose not to publicize the shooting because they believed doing so could jeopardize the investigation.

"We wanted to talk about it right away," Collins told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday. But after consulting with investigators, city officials agreed to wait.

"They felt like if we could wait till a week or two, that would give them time to run down a bunch of leads before we made it public," Collins said. "They were worried maybe the gun might disappear or something along those lines, and so in order to be able to get justice for the family, we thought it was prudent to give law enforcement opportunity to do their investigation before we made a public announcement."

Collins said he first learned about the shooting from the commander of the 90th Missile Wing, likely the morning after the incident.

Because the shooting occurred outside Cheyenne city limits, neither the city nor the Cheyenne Police Department participated in the investigation, he said.

F.E. Warren Air Force Base Public Affairs did not respond to Cowboy State Daily's requests for additional information before publication.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Residents Urged To Think Back "}]

Officials urged anyone who discharged a firearm that night — or anyone who witnessed unsafe gunfire — to consider the consequences and contact investigators.

Collins echoed that message, saying responsible firearm ownership carries an obligation to use guns safely.

"Wyoming is a Second Amendment state, and we take pride in our guns," he said. "But along with that comes the responsibility to handle them properly.

"There is no time where celebrating and shooting a gun or a weapon into the sky is safe or appropriate."

He also urged residents to think back to the Fourth of July celebration, saying even seemingly insignificant observations — a vehicle parked near the base, unusual activity or someone firing a weapon — could help investigators piece together what happened.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'I Was Heartsick'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The case struck Collins personally."}]

"I have grandchildren about that same age, and I was heartsick," he said.

He said he was relieved the little girl appears to be recovering but couldn't believe a holiday celebration ended with a child wounded by gunfire.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It was devastating,\" he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Collins said the family deserves answers."}]

"We're just asking for help," he said. "We really hope that we'll be able to find the gun and maybe try to understand what happened. I think the family deserves that, and I hope we can make it happen."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Other Recent Shooting Cases"}]

Tuesday's appeal comes after several unrelated shooting incidents involving F.E. Warren Air Force Base personnel that have drawn public attention over the past year.

In September 2025, Fort Collins police identified a Wyoming-based airman assigned to F.E. Warren as the gunman in a murder-suicide tied to a domestic violence incident. The airman died at the scene, and the woman who was wounded died the next day.

In March 2025, Air Force personnel target shooting on private land in Platte County accidentally struck and seriously injured a Verizon contractor working atop a nearby cell tower. The worker survived, and Cowboy State Daily has requested the final investigative report in that case.

In July 2025, another F.E. Warren airman was fatally shot inside a military dormitory. The death initially drew scrutiny because the weapon involved was a military-issued Sig Sauer M18 pistol, but investigators later arrested another airman on suspicion of manslaughter after concluding the shooting was not accidental.

Then, in August 2025, another fatal shooting involving two F.E. Warren airmen resulted in a manslaughter charge in Laramie County. That criminal case remains pending.

Authorities have not indicated any connection between those cases and the investigation into the July 4 shooting. They remain separate incidents involving personnel assigned to F.E. Warren Air Force Base.

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<title>Cheyenne Mayor: Help Us Find Shooter Who Hit 5-Year-Old In Head At Fireworks Show | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins is asking for the public's help in finding the shooter responsible for a 5-year-old getting struck in the head by a bullet. She was watching the July 4 fireworks show at F.E. Warren Air Force Base when hit by the stray bullet.

Cheyenne Mayor: Help Us Find Shooter Who Hit 5-Year-Old In Head At Fireworks Show

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Several side roads at a popular recreation area north of Evanston have been closed by state and federal officials after landowners complained about their land being “torn up” by unauthorized motorized use.

Some recreationists balked at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department posting "road closed" signs on several roads and two-tracks in the Woodruff Narrows/Bear River Divide area.

It includes a Game and Fish public access area.

However, agency personnel told Cowboy State Daily the roads in question cross private property, and landowners were fed up.

"The landowners are sick of having their land torn up," Bureau of Land Namangement Wyoming spokeswoman Courtney Whiteman told Cowboy State Daily.

The episode encapsulates the complexities of public recreation areas set on easements across private land.

The 16.3-acre Woodruff Narrows Public Access Area offers fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, boating, and wildlife viewing, according to Game and Fish. Just to the northeast is the roughly 12-acre Bear River PAA, which offers camping, fishing and hunting.

Game and Fish works with landowners to establish PAAs at similar places, such as walk-in hunting and angling areas and hunter management areas.

In exchange for public access, Game and Fish establishes and enforces conditions set by landowners, including dates of use, access points, limits on motorized travel, and the like.

Phil Pierson of Wichita, Kansas, stated in a social media post that Woodruff Narrows is one of his favorite places to visit. So, he was taken aback when he went there recently and discovered several roads he likes to use were posted as "closed" by Game and Fish.

He said that it wasn't right to be denied access to "public lands."

Pierson could not be reached for further comment.

Local outdoorsman Landon McGuire told Cowboy State Daily he hunts mule deer at Woodruff Narrows.

He added that the reservoir also draws anglers, who fish either from boats or along the shoreline.

He noted that the jurisdiction of the land can be confusing because it's in an area of "checkerboard" public and private land parcels, with square parcels of BLM and private land.

In much of the area, hunting is allowed only on foot, he said.

"Those (road closed) signs go up every fall" to remind hunters where they can and cannot drive, he said.

The "actual designated routes" for public travel are clearly marked on hunting GPS apps, such as onX, McGuire said.

He added that he understands why Game and Fish must regulate travel as part of its agreement with private landowners.

It's Game and Fish's duty to manage both the wildlife and human activity in the area, he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Complex Management"}]

Landowners' rights and concerns must be respected in public access areas, Game and Fish spokeswoman Anne Hodnett stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.

After angry landowners near a recreation area north of Evanston complained of their property being "torn up," state officials closed the roads. "The landowners are sick of having their land torn up," BLM spokeswoman Courtney Whiteman said.

You Still Here? Tuesday, April 11, 2023

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