Two people have been arrested after a shooting that left a person dead Saturday night in Uinta County at a home near the Fort Bridger historic site while the annual rendezvous is underway.
The Uinta County Sheriff’s Office reported that when it responded to the home at about 5:48 p.m. Saturday on a report of a shooting, deputies found one person, Jeremy Jaques, 48 of Mountain View, had died.
“Two suspects were taken into custody in connection with the shooting without incident,” the agency reported in a Sunday press release.
Witnesses at the scene identified Skyler Gray, 36, and Shawdawn Oehler, 34, both of Lyman, as the suspects in connection with the shooting, says the statement. Found outside a Lyman home, they were arrested without incident and taken to the Uinta County Detention Center. Charges are pending.
Rendezvous organizers told Cowboy State Daily on Sunday that the shooting incident happened nearby and not at the event.
"It didn’t have anything to do with the Rendezvous," Eugene Fowles, Rendezvous board chair, told Cowboy State Daily on Sunday. He said the incident sounded rather like a lengthy conflict built up "for years" between those involved, and it didn't disrupt the Rendezvous.
Fowles said the incident happened on the highway, about a mile outside of town.
Josh Camp, Superintendent of the Fort Bridger Historic Site, echoed those thoughts, saying the shooting stemmed from a "personal feud," and happened after hours, when most Rendezvous goers were gone, though campers remained.
Those involved were not Rendezvous attendees, he added.
The UCSO indicated that as well.
“This was an isolated event and there was no threat to the Fort Bridger Rendezvous or the community of Fort Bridger,” the statement says. “All events will go on as scheduled.”
The rendezvous, which began Thursday, runs 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Monday.
This story has been updated to reflect a Sunday evening statement in which the Uinta County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspects and the deceased.
