Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"He was teaching them how to play fetch with the dog and..."}]

Smile 12 31 25

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

<title>Daily Smile: Wednesday, December 31, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

He was teaching them how to play fetch with the dog and...

Daily Smile: Wednesday, December 31, 2025

 He was teaching them how to play fetch with the dog and...

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Before the Carbon County emergency services scanner went dark at around 3:30 p.m. Monday, the dispatchers, officers, deputies and troopers on it described an 

 and manhunt in which at least one law enforcement officer was injured and a Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper’s car was “shot up.”

The saga ended with scanner reports saying the fleeing truck had come to a stop, and one person was dead inside it. 

Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken announced via press release late Monday evening that the shooter died on scene. 

"The subject opened fire on the initial responding deputy, striking him several times," the statement reads.

"The suspect fled the scene in a small truck.  Additional responding deputies and troopers with the Wyoming Highway Patrol engaged in a pursuit with the suspect vehicle on Highway 789 north of Baggs. 

"The suspect opened fire on law enforcement again before driving off the highway and coming to a stop. The suspect was declared deceased at the scene. 

"The wounded deputy was transported to a medical facility in Colorado by Intermountain Air Ambulance."

[{"type":"text","text":"How It Unfolded"}]

The public learned of the incident when Carbon County emergency services called for a shelter in place due to an active shooter situation around 1 p.m. 

Scanner traffic erupted at about that time, when a female dispatcher informed units that a “lady” had called to report a man emerged from a home near or about 49 West Cedar Street, Baggs. That's across the road from the mayor's home. 

The man "came out of the house with a long gun, fired a shot, and now he’s walking around trying to get into an apartment,” the female dispatcher related from the caller’s report. “RP (reporting party) says he has tactical equipment on.”

The male had red hair, a mustache, no shirt, and green camo pants, the dispatcher related. She’d later add from a secondhand description that he had a fanny pack containing ammunition.

A Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper who called himself “132” said he was on his way.

“He’s gone into apartment number one, and now he came out and he’s heading back upstairs,” the dispatcher narrated.

[{"type":"text","text":"The man still had a gun, she added."}]

“He’s getting into a small black truck at this time,” said the dispatcher. Male officers, troopers or deputies pressed the dispatcher for a better description of the truck, and after several minutes personnel said it was reportedly a Toyota Tacoma.

The man headed north through Baggs. The caller didn’t know his name or who he was, the dispatcher said.

One male law enforcement officer said one of the officers was stopping the vehicle.

“Subject is now shooting at the patrol vehicle,” said a male voice on the scanner.

Personnel called in night shift deputies or troopers. They asked for help from Moffat County Colorado, which reportedly later sent two drones along with other help. They asked for a special response team from the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.

“It appears one of the apartments is on fire,” said the dispatcher at about 1:18 p.m. Eyewitnesses in Baggs said the fire was related to the shooting and chase. 

Traffic indicated at some point the fleeing black truck turned back south. 

The town clerk told personnel, reportedly, that shooting sounds resounded “up on the hill south of Baggs,” said a male officer.

One man asked if law enforcement personnel had heard from a deputy called “66.”

[{"type":"text","text":"“That is negative,” answered the dispatcher."}]

Later someone on the scanner said that residents of the area were “applying aid to 66” and that “66 is down,” while the suspect had fled northward in the black Tacoma.

The sheriff’s evening statement says the suspect opened fire and struck the deputy several times. The deputy was flown to care in Colorado. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Multiple parties on the scanner coordinated medical personnel responses."}]

At 1:29 p.m. a male trooper or other officer shouted, “Shots fired! Shots fired! He’s shooting at – “

[{"type":"text","text":"“He’s right there,” an agent added after a brief silence. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"What Trooper 132 Saw"}]

Around this time the scene was unfolding around mile marker 40 on Highway 789.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Shots fired!” said a male voice again."}]

“He hit my windshield,” said a male voice that sounded like the trooper called 132. “Getting water, he hit my tire.”

But 132 wasn’t done with the incident. He asked a deputy called “64” to pick him up and take him to the next part of the incident so he could keep helping.

A deputy called “68” reported, while catching his breath audibly, that personnel had a “barricaded suspect” just off a two-track or county road, headed west, but that by then, “we have no movement.”

The dispatcher said a special response team had been “activated.” That was about 1:40 p.m.

[{"type":"text","text":"Agents coordinated shutting the highway down."}]

“Sounds like he’s barricaded in the vehicle,” said a male. “I know he shot at 132.”

One agent asked if he should bring an “OIS Bag,” or officer-involved shooting kit.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I don’t know if 132 fired a round or not,” answered the male."}]

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation confirmed via email to Cowboy State Daily that it was asked Monday afternoon to respond to an officer-involved shooting south of Baggs.

At least one agent requested a “Bear Cat” armored vehicle. It’s unclear where that vehicle was coming from: agents mentioned both Sweetwater County and Casper.

Meanwhile, a “potential structure fire and chemical situation” reportedly progressed on Cedar Street.

[{"type":"text","text":"A propane leak “appears to be there on purpose,” said a dispatcher."}]

The suspect’s vehicle was stationary. Agents weren’t sure if the suspect was still in the vehicle. The final shot was fired at about 1:08, an officer said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Someone called for a bomb squad. "}]

Cowboy State Daily asked the Carbon County Fire District to confirm whether, as scanner traffic indicated, propane tanks had exploded, and the department said it could not confirm.

The trooper known as 132 asked someone to shoot several photographs of his vehicle for the investigation.

“You can’t miss it, it’s a highway patrol car on the side of the road that’s shot up,” said 132.  

Officers wondered aloud if the suspect had fled on foot or was still in the vehicle. Multiple drones were on the way to confirm.

“One occupant deceased,” said an officer, adding a directive to notify the coroner. 

Bakken confirmed late in the evening that the shooter was dead on scene. It’s unclear how he died.

The Sweetwater County bomb squad responded to the apartment complex around 6:45 p.m. 

The Carbon County Sheriff's Office lifted its shelter in place notification for the town of Baggs at 7:48 p.m. - nearly seven hours after implementing it. 

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I Passed 17 Emergency Vehicles\""}]

Cory Overton, a Baggs resident, said he was headed home from his work in the Craig area when a Steamboat Springs, Colorado-based SWAT team passed him on the highway, also headed toward Baggs.

[{"type":"text","text":"He also saw a medical helicopter leaving the town, Overton said."}]

“I passed 17 emergency vehicles before I hit Craig,” he added. Overton said he and his son jumped into the car and headed north, then he took photographs of the aftermath of the incident.

One of the photographs Overton took shows a Carbon County Sheriff’s deputy vehicle with the window seemingly open.

It appeared to be shot by bullets, Overton said, adding that the deputy is a “local guy” known to the community.

Overton said he doesn’t know the shooter. Many people who work in Craig live in Baggs due to cheaper housing costs, he added.

Overton said he’s not sure if the apartment fire is related to the shooting incident. But when law enforcement personnel refer to “the apartment complex,” he said, only one comes to mind.

“That’s really the only apartments we have,” said Overton. That is, except for an old motel used for rent just north of town, he added.

Baggs standoff 6 8 26

<title>Deadly Shooting In Baggs, Wyoming: Deputy Injured, Shooter Dead | Cowboy State Daily</title>

An active shooter manhunt unfolded Monday in Baggs where one deputy was injured and the shooter died on scene, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken confirmed late Monday. The sheriff said the suspect opened fire on law enforcement before driving off a highway.

Deadly Shooting In Baggs, Wyoming: Deputy Injured, Shooter Dead

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

Courts

CASPER — A 40-year-old Casper man who police allege stabbed another man multiple times for paying off a drug debt with counterfeit money faces up to 10 years in prison.

William Tyler Midgett had his initial appearance Friday on a charge of aggravated assault and battery. He was given a $100,000 cash bond and set for an as-yet unscheduled preliminary hearing, according to court documents made available Monday.

Court records show the investigation began when the Casper Police Department was called to Banner Wyoming Medical Center at 3 p.m. on April 11 after a man was brought in with multiple stab wounds. 

The inside of the Cadillac that transported him to the hospital was covered with blood, and police also found a rolled up counterfeit $100 bill in a cup holder of the car.

When police arrived, the stabbing victim was being attended to by emergency room medical personnel and  told an officer that he did not know who stabbed him and “did not know who would know,” according to an affidavit of probable caused filed in Midgett’s case.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Investigation Unfolds"}]

The investigation led police to an apartment complex in the city and a parking lot where the stabbing is alleged to have happened. The apartment complex was not identified in the affidavit.

A video from a Ring camera at an apartment in the complex showed the victim and another man walking into the parking lot from the north and Midgett approaching from the south.

The affidavit states that children were playing in the area, walking around and riding scooters.

Once the victim and another man walked in together casually from the north, Midgett appeared from the south of the parking lot and took on a fighting stance. 

Midgett and the victim started fighting, and the video showed Midgett trying to swing in a way that indicated he had a weapon in his hand, the affidavit says.

The video showed Midgett fall to the ground and the victim jump on top of him and they rolled on the ground.

“Midgett stabbed (the victim) in his left side with his right hand multiple times,” the affidavit states the video showed. “There was a pause while Midgett was on top of (the victim) and then Midgett’s left hand moved up and down indicating he stabbed (the victim) multiple times again.”

The video showed three other men get Midgett to stand up and after that the victim stood also. 

Midgett walked to the south out of the video frame and the victim and a woman got into the silver Cadillac and drove away, the affidavit states.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Unnamed Sources"}]

“Unnamed sources” told officers that the stabbing was the result of a more than $50,000 drug debt that the victim owed. 

The victim had put his Cadillac up for collateral “and then paid the debt in counterfeit money,” the affidavit states.

One informant told police that the victim’s girlfriend owned the Cadillac, but the victim stated it was his.

“It was believed (the victim) won’t talk to police because it makes everything square and his debt would be erased,” the affidavit states.

Another unnamed informant told police that there are messages and photographs from the victim’s phone showing black-and-white Canon printers used to print the money and photographs of different denominations of suspected fake bills, the affidavit states.

One of the messages supplied to police allegedly sent to the victim’s phone stated that the man had put up the car for collateral and that “we did this because you said you were good for it.”

“Bruh you owe me $54 bands,” the sender allegedly wrote the victim. “I know things are hot but I don’t want some greasy Mexicans showing up on top of it.”

A Casper police investigator interpreted the message that the victim owed the sender $54,000 and the sender was worried that “a Hispanic male would come to collect if they did not pay him back,” the affidavit states.

On April 28, Casper investigators obtained a search warrant for the victim’s phone, and a forensic download of it revealed a message from the phone on March 26 to a woman complaining about the “fake money.”

On April 3, several photos of $20 bills were sent to the victim’s phone by a female contact.

Police also found a message from the victim to a phone number on March 26 that stated a woman had just brought him the money and to let him know when the person was outside.

“I’ll come grab it if it’s there so I can get and go,” the message stated.

Other messages police recovered from the victim’s phone were between the victim and Midgett arguing about the weight of something put in a bag.

During an interview with Midgett on April 11, he denied stabbing the victim. 

A warrant allowed police to collect swabs from what appeared to be blood spots on his jeans and on the back of the sleeve of his shirt.

When Midgett took off his shirt, police saw “a large cut on the back of his left arm near his triceps” with fat and muscle exposed.

Police obtained search warrants for the Cadillac that transported the victim to the hospital and for Midgett’s Dodge Avenger. 

In the Avenger, they found a knife with a blade on both ends and a handle in the middle. The knife had blood on it, the affidavit states.

A witness to the stabbing told police that he went to the apartment complex to visit his mom and after the visit found Midgett standing near his car. 

He knew Midgett from having worked with him. 

He told police that as he was saying “what’s up” that Midgett handed him his glasses and hat.

The witness told police that Midgett asked the victim: “What are we going to do?” And then started fighting him. 

“(The witness) saw Midgett with a knife, and Midgett stabbed (the victim) multiple times in the side of the ribs,” the affidavit states. “Then Midgett stabbed (the victim) in the chest multiple times. 

"That was when Midgett put a knife to (the victim’s) throat and started saying, ‘I’m going to kill you …”

The witness told police another man grabbed Midgett to try and get him away from the victim, while he (the witness) questioned Midgett about what he was doing.

The aggravated assault and battery charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. 

Midgett remains in the Natrona County Jail. A preliminary hearing date has not yet been set.

William Midgett 6 8 26

<title>Casper Man Accused Of Stabbing Man For Paying Off Drug Debt With Fake Money | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 40-year-old Casper man was in court Friday, accused of stabbing another man for paying off his drug debt with fake money. "I’m going to kill you,” a witness told police about the attack, which also was captured on video.

Casper Man Accused Of Stabbing Man For Paying Off Drug Debt With Fake Money

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Outdoors

Two German tourists had to call Big Horn County Search and Rescue (BCSAR) for help after Google Maps led them astray.

The tourists were were visiting the Medicine Wheel in the Bighorn Mountains when they decided to head to Shell on May 31, BCSAR reported Sunday. Instead of recommending U.S. Highway 14 either westbound or eastbound, Google Maps sent them down a backcountry road that blew out two of their tires.

The pair was evacuated by BCSAR volunteers on ATVs that evening, but their Jeep Compass was stuck in the mountains until the tires could be replaced.

“They were on a road that they shouldn't have been in the car that they were driving,” said Adam Potter, owner of Big Horse Point S Towing in Greybull. “If you're going to be in the Bighorns, don't trust Google.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Mission 26"}]

This was BCSAR’s 26th mission so far  in 2026. Potter wasn’t officially dispatched to rescue the German tourists when they got stuck, but he expected to be sent into the mountains at some point.

“I got a call from one of my buddies with the Big Horn County Sheriff's Department who told me BCSAR might be calling, so I sat tight,” he said. “Two of the guys who work for me in my shop are BCSAR volunteers, and they said the same thing.”

Potter didn’t get the call he was expecting until the next morning. The driver of the Jeep, named Matthias, asked if he could get his rental car out of the mountains.

Potter said Matthias and his wife were trying to take Alkali Road from Medicine Wheel to Shell. When they encountered a locked gate, Google Maps recommended an alternate route that they weren’t equipped to travel.

“They were on a road made for ATVs,” he said. “Matthias was probably about 10 miles down there when he realized that that wasn't going to work. He couldn’t get that Jeep Compass down there.”

Matthias managed to turn around and start going back the way he came. As he did so, his low-profile Jeep scraped against a large, sharp rock that punctured two tires.

The stranded Germans contacted the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office, which sent BCSAR volunteers to pick them up. The Jeep Compass was left where it was, as there wasn’t anything that could be done right away to save it.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Down, Up, Down, Up Again"}]

Once Matthias and his wife reached Greybull, he called Potter about getting the vehicle out of the mountains, which was stuck near South Trapper Rim, an area that Potter’s familiar with.

“At this time of year and hunting season, we’re up there quite a bit,” he said.

Potter knew there was no point in trying to tow the Jeep out, as he wasn’t sure his tow truck could get to the spot. Instead, he had Matthias guide him to the stranded vehicle.

“It was just the tires,” Potter said. “The rest of the suspension looked good, and he never hit anything on the undercarriage, but we can’t replace a tire on a rim on the side of the road out in the mountains.”

The solution was to jack up the Jeep, remove the punctured wheels, and take them back down to the tow shop. By that point, it was already getting dark.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It was a four-hour round trip to reach that spot, Potter said."}]

On Monday morning, Potter and Matthias went back up again to replace the tires and get the vehicle going. Then, Matthias drove it out of the mountains, shadowed by Potter.

“He drove himself up out of there,” Potter said. “He got himself down there, so it wasn't too hard for him to get back out. I just worked him up the road.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Do You Know, Google?"}]

Google Maps is one of the most popular web mapping platforms in the world. However, Wyoming consistently tests its reliability.

When the East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park opens every year, Google Maps tends to 

 and redirects drivers several hours out of their way to the North Entrance in Gardiner, Montana. When Yellowstone’s South Entrance opens, Google Maps has the same issue.

When Interstate 80 shuts down for winter weather, Google Maps occasionally tries to send drivers down closed, 

 because they’re still on the map and, as far as Google Maps is concerned, are still viable shortcuts.

“It's hard for Google to navigate change,” Rick Howe, president and CEO of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, told Cowboy State Daily. “It works when things are consistent, but seasonal openings and closures of specific locations are really hard for the current platform to handle, and there’s no clear way to change that.”

Matthias and his wife were back on well-traveled roads after they got their rented Jeep out of the Bighorns, and they’re on their way back to Germany.  

Potter ensured they wouldn’t have any more navigational issues for the final stretch of their journey.

“I pointed him in the right direction on the maps and websites that clarify ATV roads versus groomed, maintained roads,” he said. “Google Maps doesn’t know the difference.”

Stuck German tourists 6 8 26

<title>German Tourists Get Stuck In Bighorns After Following Google Maps | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Big Horn County Search and Rescue had to rescue two German tourists after Google Maps got their rented Jeep stuck on a backcountry road. “If you're going to be in the Bighorns, don't trust Google,” is the takeaway, said a Wyoming tow truck driver.

German Tourists Get Stuck In Bighorns After Following Google Maps

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

After 64 years, Casper’s real-life version of the “Little Engine That Could” will return to its hometown to help put the spotlight on the city’s railroad and refinery legacy.

Fort Caspar Museum has announced that the muscular little 0-4-0 steam locomotive known as “Standard Oil No. 1” that once chugged along the miles of rails at the Standard Oil Refinery starting in 1920 will soon be on display at the museum.

In Colorado, they renamed the machine “Lulu Belle” for a time.

Colorado Railroad Museum Executive Director Paul Hammond said the return of the locomotive comes after the Golden, Colorado, facility re-evaluated its collection and identified items it wanted to get rid of that are not connected to Colorado’s rail past.

“By moving Standard Oil No.1  to the grounds of the Fort Caspar Museum, we will be returning an important piece of Casper’s history and displaying it less than a mile from the center of the refinery where it spent its lengthy career,” he said.

Local historian and Fort Caspar Museum volunteer Con Trumbull has been working with the Colorado Railroad Museum to bring the transfer about, Hammond said.

Trumbull, who has chronicled the state’s rail past and works as a steam locomotive engineer in Nevada, said the acquisition began with a conversation he had with Hammond more than a year ago. 

He said the director was talking about how the locomotive was taking up space that could be better used for Colorado artifacts and needed to “go home” so there could be more Colorado equipment displayed.

As a kid, Trumbull said his grandparents would take him down to the Colorado Railroad Museum when they went down to Denver.

“I’ve always loved trains and loved railroading and that little locomotive hit close to home because it said ‘Casper, Wyoming,’ on it,” he said. “I got to crawl on it as a kid, I got to ring the bell, I got to see it and I always thought that it should come back to Casper.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rail History Void"}]

While many of Wyoming’s towns, including Gillette, Rock Springs, Sheridan, and Douglas have some sort of display featuring a locomotive or caboose paying homage to their railroad past, Casper has never had something to tie to its rail history.

The little 0-4-0 will allow the Fort Caspar Museum to do that, Trumbull said.

Hammond told Cowboy State Daily that when his museum purchased the locomotive in 1962 they used it as a “billboard” to advertise the museum.

“It got dolled up a little bit with paint and was placed on some tracks to attract attention,” he said. “That’s where it picked up a name that it’s had ever since at this museum called the ‘Lulu Belle.’”

After some years, the billboard role became unnecessary and the locomotive was given back its Standard Oil logos and placed as a centerpiece of an area of the museum used for picnicking. 

He said when the museum announced the train was returning to Casper their social media had several comments about people remembering it as a child.

Hammond said with the museum’s reconfiguration and dispersed picnic areas, it meant the timing is right for the engine to find a new home.

The engine was made in 1920 by the American Locomotive Company of Paterson, New Jersey, which was one of the largest manufacturers of steam locomotives at the turn of the past century.

Trumbull said the locomotive was built to last and it worked around the refinery for 42 years before being put up for sale.

“Even though it’s just a small switching engine, it’s still a testament to that engineering prowess and stuff that American railroads were known for,” he said. The Standard Oil Refinery for a time was the largest one in the world and there were a “maze” of tracks throughout the refinery.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hauling Tank Cars"}]

Trumbull said it probably mostly “banged tank cars around” but also would have been used to haul other freight cars bringing in supplies or other materials for the refinery.

The current look of the locomotive does not reflect its bulk when it was sold to the Colorado museum.

Trumbull said switchers were very “utilitarian” and tank locomotives were boxy and often museums would alter them to make them look more like a traditional locomotive. 

In the case of Standard Oil No. 1, its tank was cut back from the front to give it a different appearance.

“They didn’t cut this one up as bad as I’ve seen others do,” he said.

Trumbull said well-known Casper railroad retiree Chuck Eckerson, who has built and periodically runs his own little steam locomotive with rail cars around his yard in Casper, has offered to help restore the locomotive.

When the engine went up for sale in 1962, a young Eckerson wanted to buy it and had the option to do so, but he was living with his parents and they would not let him put it in their yard, Trumbull said.

“He is extremely excited that this is coming back and he is already making plans to completely redo the woodworking in the cab and get the windows and doors fixed and repaint it,” Trumbull said. “We are talking about possibly taking the tank back to how it would look like when it was here.”

The goal is to get the locomotive to a place where people can climb back in the cab and see the throttle and gauges and ring the bell to make it more of a “touchable history piece,” he said.

More than a century ago, “Standard Oil No. 1” steam locomotive was at work at the company’s Casper oil refinery, but has been gone for 64 years. Now it’s coming back to Casper after decades at a Colorado rail museum.

Daily Smile: Wednesday, December 31, 2025

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