Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the suspect being charged with involuntary manslaughter and details from his initial court appearance.
CASPER — A 16-year-old boy is dead and charges and an 18-year-old has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after a Wednesday night shooting at an east side home.
The older teen has been identified as Luka Rasmussen, the Casper Police Department reports.
Casper Police Lt. Jeff Bullard said Rasmussen was arrested by officers at the scene and will be formally charged.
Luka Rasmussen appeared via video in Casper Circuit Court on Thursday afternoon before Judge Brian Christensen and told the judge he understood the charge against him. Christensen asked him if he was on probation or parole.
“No sir,” he said, asking the judge for a public defender. He also told Christensen that he worked at fast food restaurant and had been in Casper for about four years. He said he lives in a home in central Casper.
Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen asked the judge for a $500,000 cash or surety bond and alcohol and drug testing as a condition of the bond, as well as no contact with the victim’s family.
An affidavit in the case was not immediately available.
In a Thursday morning report, the Casper Police Department says its 911 dispatch received a call about a shooting in the 4000 block of East 8th Street just after 9 p.m. Wednesday.
“Upon arrival, officers located several individuals on the scene, including a 16-year-old male who had been shot inside the residence,” the report says. “The juvenile male victim was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Police report also finding stolen weapons and drugs at the house.
Bullard said the investigation let to Rasmussen’s arrest, and that he had been “reportedly handling a firearm recklessly, shooting the 16-year-old victim.”
Detectives are still interviewing witnesses and processing information, Bullard said, adding he did not know if Rasmussen or the victim were students at Natrona County schools.
A call to Natrona County schools was not immediately returned.
Bullard said the weapon that was fired was a handgun and he did not know if Rasmussen had any previous contact with police.
He also said the gathering at the house was not a “party.”
Thursday morning, the house and vacant lawn on both sides and a police car sat out front with crime scene tape draping the area. A neighbor across the street declined to comment.
No Shots Heard
A couple down the block who asked not to be identified said they never heard any gunshots.
The husband in the house said he was in his bathroom brushing his teeth when he saw the police lights about 9:30 p.m. They did not hear any sirens.
The husband said he tried to speak with a female officer about what was going on but didn’t get any information.
“When I got up this morning there was yellow tape all around the house,” the woman said.
A large police presence was at the home until early Thursday morning, the couple said
“The whole time police were there we never saw a light in the house,” they said.
The couple said they knew the family’s father by his first name and that there was a son and older daughter associated with the residence.
Bullard said the investigation is continuing and could not say if any other suspects could be involved or charged related to the incident.
The shooting is the third violent fatal incident involving teens over the past year.
On April 7, 2024, Bobby Maher, 14, was stabbed to death at the city’s mall by then 15-year-olds Jarreth Plunkett and Dominique Harris. On May 14, 2024, 17-year-old Lene’a Brown was shot at point-blank range by her ex-boyfriend Eavan Castaner, then 15.
Those cases are still making their way through the courts.
There have been several other incidents involving teens and weapons in the city as well, including a stabbing on Halloween and a 15-year-old awaiting sentencing for shooting a pistol into two separate residences with people inside last August.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
