The brother of a man who died last summer after shooting at National Park Service rangers in Yellowstone National Park is asking a judge not to let the government keep all the man’s things.
But Samson Lucas Bariah Fussner’s brother Noah Fussner hopes the guns connected to the shootout will be sold to offer restitution to the NPS ranger who was shot, says Noah’s petition filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court.
“Lucas” Fussner, 28, died in a shootout the morning of July 4 in Canyon Village, Yellowstone, after taking a hostage for several hours, making statements about committing a mass shooting then shooting an NPS ranger in the foot and firing at others, court documents say.
Originally of Florida, Lucas was a Xanterra concessionaire employee at the time.
The Wyoming U.S. Attorney’s Office in January asked the federal U.S. District Court for Wyoming to let the government keep Lucas’s 2021 Nissan Rogue, four firearms, assorted magazines and ammunition.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Gross wrote in his January petition that these things were part of “a plot to commit mass violence,” and that allows the government to take possession of them.
Lucas’s brother Noah Fussner disputes the government’s claim in part, in the filing that asks the court to let Noah keep the car and several items believed to be inside it. The two brothers shared many of these things, says Noah Fussner’s filing.
Noah attached power of attorney documents showing that his father and mother both signed over rights to Lucas Fussner’s body and belongings.
A full-time university student studying electrical engineering, Noah drained his summer pay of $3,426.80 to pay for Lucas’ cremation, says a note attached to the filing.
“Lucas and I shared many possessions, and many items he had on his person belong to me,” wrote Noah. The Nissan Rogue Lucas bought by trading in a vehicle that the brothers had owned together, says the document.
Noah’s filing says Lucas packed his things into the Nissan before his death. And it asks the court not to let the government keep all those things, but rather give them to Noah, as Lucas’ heir. Those include: a gaming laptop, books, a guitar case, camping equipment, a professional camera with equipment, clothing, a China mint silver coin and bag of tools.
“I lay no claim to the firearms listed as items 2-6” wrote Noah in the Thursday filing. “I express my wish here that the firearms be sold and given as a small token of reparation to the NPS officer injured on the line of duty on July 4, 2024.”
The Detailed Version
Gross’s forfeiture petition contains the most detailed and raw account of the shootout the federal government has released so far.
Lucas vented white supremacist and antisemitic views in the months leading up to the attack on the forum Vanguard News Network, the petition says.
He was “on the precipice of a breakdown,” he wrote in a March 16, 2024, post. He described his depression, loneliness and mental anguish, and said he wished for a white nation. He lamented his inability to connect with others, the petition says, adding that he said he despised Christians and refused “to fraternize with race-traitors that support non-whites or jews,” says the narrative.
“This year may well be my last. I do not believe in suicide, but I do believe in a last stand,” Gross related from Lucas’s personal communications.
He was trying to get a seasonal job in a “nice white mountainous area or state park” and expose himself to different “white people.” If he couldn’t do that, “look forward to seeing me in the news,” the petition relates.
Working as a Xanterra concessions employee, Lucas was not surrounded by white people.
He texted his brother July 1 that he was “upset” in Yellowstone and needed to find another job or he’d “go postal here,” says the narrative.
“I can’t do it anymore,” Lucas told his brother, according to the petition. “I think 4th of July would be a good time. Lots of crowds and they’d think it was fireworks.”
On July 2, Lucas texted his brother again to complain that Yellowstone was becoming “80% J1s (migrants). 50% chink/30% spic,” the petition says, adding that he wrote, “Whites seem to have disappeared … Very odd hellscape im in (sic).”
Lucas texted about a woman he worked with, said he was obsessed with her, and that she was “German stock,” the narrative says.
“Continuing to live would be meaningless,” Lucas texted his brother July 3, according to the narrative.
“I would just continue to suffer and feel nothingness even if I could gain everything, I could logically think I wanted,” he continued. “Dead is a good thing. It is a release. Ive (sic) lived much longer than I should have already … But I want a good dearh (sic). One that was fun and had some kind of meaning.”
With A Pistol
At 10 p.m. July 3, Lucas entered the dorm room of the woman he liked and took her hostage, Gross wrote.
He knocked, then barged in when she opened the door. He pulled a knife out, put it away and pulled out a handgun, which he never pointed at her, but clutched throughout the night. He held her hostage for about two hours, the narrative says.
He “ranted about his mental health issues, his racist ideations, and his plans to carry out a mass shooting at the employee dining room in Canyon Lodge and the fireworks display at West Yellowstone, Montana,” the petition continues.
Lucas told the woman he wanted to kill himself 10 years prior but couldn’t pull the trigger. But he wanted to “do something major” and make a statement about American politics; and that he didn’t like how America was bringing in non-Americans and changing the culture, says the narrative.
“He indicated he thought all blacks were evil and reported hating Jews,” Gross wrote.
The narrative says Lucas told the woman about his last-minute plan to shoot up the Canyon employee dining room.
Just before midnight, the woman’s roommate came home. Lucas hid the gun under his arm. The roommate went to shower, and Lucas left, telling the woman that if the cops came to find him, he’d have to come back to her room with “something more powerful that doors won’t stop,” the petition says.
'You Aren't Gonna Be Happy'
Once Lucas was gone, the woman called Xanterra security, warning about the mass shooting threat and describing her two hours of captivity. A security officer called National Park Service dispatch and reported the incident.
Park rangers spent the early morning hours of July 4 searching for Lucas.
At 1:18 a.m., Lucas “started frantically texting his brother again,” saying he’d done something dumb” but didn’t want to do time in prison or be a felon because of it, reportedly.
“I should have waited until July 4th and just done a crowd, but something compelled me otherwise,” Lucas texted, according to the petition. “I faltered in the plan of full hostage doh! ... You aren’t gonna be happy when you wake up lol but maybe I can do something funny.”
Xanterra security personnel found Lucas’s 2021 Nissan Rogue in the Canyon parking lot, unoccupied and backed into a parking space on one side of the Canyon Lodge. It looked poised for “a quick getaway,” wrote Gross.
Noah disputed this in a Jan. 31 filing, writing that the claim that Lucas parked the vehicle “strategically” is misleading, “since the vehicle was parked more than halfway across the mentioned lot.”
Rangers saw a Ruger .380-caliber pistol in plain view on the center console.
When they opened the unlocked door and searched the car, they found the gun was loaded with a round in the chamber, the narrative says. They also found a loaded 9 mm magazine for a Glock-type handgun, rifle magazines and multiple high-capacity Glock-style handgun magazines. They found an individual first-aid kit behind the driver’s seat, and a 12-gauge shotgun in a guitar case, the petition says.
Not all of these guns were involved in the shootout, countered Noah in his own filing – since Lucas wasn’t in the car with them throughout the incident. The 12-gauge shotgun, for example, was in a hard case with two individual locks.
Noah also called into question whether investigators had validated Lucas’ alleged online comments, and had proved through alias connection that Lucas was in fact their author.
As for the first aid kit and the car’s position, either indicate a “diabolical plan” wrote Noah. The first aid kit was the sort to patch small wounds and scratches, the brother added.
“It was shown that (Lucas) Fussner had problems with mental health issues and wished to commit ‘death by cop,’” wrote Noah.
Out With A Rifle
At 8:05 a.m., Lucas exited the woods east of Canyon Lodge, northeast of the Grizzly Dorm. A park ranger the petition calls “Ranger 1” saw Lucas carrying an AR-15 type rifle with his left hand on the foregrip and right hand on the pistol grip, Gross wrote.
Ranger 1 yelled for Lucas to stop.
Lucas turned and shot at the ranger, who took cover behind a tree, says the narrative.
The petition says Lucas went toward the employee dining room through the loading dock area. Two more rangers, called Rangers 2 and 3, were stationed in the lodge.
Ranger 2 exchanged gunfire. Lucas shot Ranger 2 in the right foot, causing a severe foot injury that required Ranger 2 to undergo multiple surgeries, eventually losing multiple toes, Gross wrote.
Then Lucas exchanged gunfire with Ranger 3, the petition says.
Ranger 1 rushed to the loading dock area and encountered Lucas. Ranger 1 shot at Lucas, who ran toward Ranger 1, says the document.
“Ranger 1 continued to fire until Lucas was neutralized and lying on the ground,” added Gross.
A physician later pronounced Lucas dead. On his person, agents found a Glock 9 mm pistol and “assorted ammunition and magazines,” the petition says.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
