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Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Public Safety

BAGGS — Waking up in this usually sleepy town of 411 people Tuesday morning, you wouldn’t know that only eight hours earlier it was the scene of a major multi-state response to an active shooter that ended with a Carbon County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot multiple times and a dead suspect.

As late as 10 p.m. Monday, the initial crime scene ­— a nondescript off-yellow, two-story apartment building — was surrounded by dozens of law enforcement vehicles and crime-scene tape a stone’s throw from southbound Wyoming Highway 789.

Along with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, Rawlins Police Department and at least a half-dozen other agencies from Wyoming and northern Colorado had responded.

[{"type":"text","text":"By 6 a.m. Tuesday, it was business as usual around Baggs — almost."}]

Folks were up early and in their heavy-duty trucks on their way to job sites, the pickups dusty in a way that says they work as hard as their drivers.

They did their usual rounds, stopping for breakfast, coffee, and a little gossip to start the day.

On Tuesday, there was little gossip as conversations were dominated by Monday’s deadly incident.

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Now in her 80s, Linda Fleming grew up in Baggs and has lived her life teaching generations of local kids, along with serving a stint as the town’s mayor in the 1980s.

She called Monday’s deadly shootout “something tragic” that also highlights the hero spirit of first responders, along with the neighbors who helped the deputy after being shot multiple times until an ambulance could arrive.

“The most immediate (heroes) were the neighbors who rallied for that deputy,” she told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday morning.

Inquiries to the Carbon County Sheriff’s and coroner’s offices for more information about Monday’s shooting were not returned by the time this story was published. That includes the condition of the deputy and the identification and cause of death of the suspected shooter.

Fleming said she’s not surprised regular people reportedly sprang into action to help the deputy, along with local EMS that was at the scene quickly.

“It’s just what we do,” she said. “We don’t have any local police, so people help and don’t give it a second thought.”

She also said that while violent episodes like Monday’s have become rare for Baggs, that wasn’t always the case.

“I was mayor in the ’80s when we had a pretty serious drug problem at that time,” Fleming said. “But we didn’t have anything like the shooting of a police officer.”

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At the Stage Stop General Store, the usual suspects were in their usual places, sipping coffee from the four stools at the front of the store by the checkout counter.

Like clockwork, as one of the “old geezers” — as one described the group — got up and left, another filtered in to take the empty stool.

The usual gossip was replaced Tuesday with talk about the shooting, the manhunt for the suspect, and then the ultimate ending with a deputy flown to a Colorado hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and a dead suspect.

“I’m reading about it right now on Cowboy State Daily,” said the local on the far end, holding up his phone.

They’re all talkers, until asked their names. “Oh, gee, I guess I forgot it,” one silver-haired coffee drinker quipped, making them all laugh.

What they weren’t vague about was their shock over what happened, and the resulting hourslong shelter-in-place order that shut down the town.

It was the same at the Cowboy Inn Restaurant, where server Brett Ferrier said a full dining room of customers was not allowed to leave.

She also echoed Fleming’s sentiment that she’s not surprised the deputy may owe his life to those fast-acting neighbors.

“This is the best place I’ve lived,” said Ferrier, adding that she moved to the area just last September. “These are real neighbors, they have your back and they’re so welcoming.”

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Nearly 24 hours after local residents were notified via text message of an “active assailant in Baggs area. Please shelter in place,” there’s still little information about a possible motive for the shooting and the condition of the deputy.

In a late-night report Monday, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken confirmed that “the suspect opened fire on the initial responding deputy, striking him several times.”

The suspect then “fled the scene in a small truck,” the report says. “Additional responding deputies and troopers with the Wyoming Highway Patrol engaged in a pursuit with the suspect vehicle on Highway 789 north of Baggs.”

During the pursuit, the suspect again “opened fire on law enforcement … before driving off the highway and coming to a stop.”

The report then says that the suspect “was declared deceased at the scene,” but it’s not clear how the suspect died or if anything happened between the time the vehicle came to a stop and the suspect was declared dead.

“Please keep our injured deputy and their family in your thoughts and prayers,” the report ends.

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Law enforcement agencies around Wyoming are doing just that, posting messages of support and sympathy for the injured Carbon County deputy and the sheriff’s office. A sampling of those:

 “Please keep all the first responders in Carbon County in your prayers and specifically for the deputy who was shot yesterday in Baggs.”

 “The Wyoming law enforcement community is a small one and today our hearts are with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office.”

 “Our thoughts and prayers remain with the injured deputy, they’re loved ones, and the entire Carbon County Sheriff’s Office following yesterday’s tragic incident.

“Moments like these are a stark reminder of the dangers law enforcement officers face in service to their communities. We ask everyone to keep the deputy, their family, and all those affected in their thoughts during this incredibly difficult time.”

Closer to home, Baggs residents like Fleming and Ferrier are shocked, but not disheartened by Monday’s violence.

“Our little community of Little Snake River was put into lockdown cause of an active shooter,” posted Stacy Overton to Facebook. “Our community is shaken (by) the recent events of today.”

Meanwhile, what looked like a scene from an action movie set most of the day and night Monday appeared virtually normal by Tuesday morning.

Gone was the small fleet of law enforcement vehicles representing multiple jurisdictions, along with the fire engines and crime scene tape.

At least most of it, with one string of yellow tape still visible at the property. The small army that had responded the day before was reduced to one Carbon County deputy standing at the perimeter of the scene.

At the Cowboy Inn, Ferrier was too busy Tuesday to think much about the previous day’s excitement. The lunch rush was coming.

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information on Monday’s active shooter incident is available from authorities.

Baggs green sign inset

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

<title>Deadly Shootout In Baggs, Wyoming: Neighbors Helped Deputy After Shot By Suspect | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The day after a gunfight that left a deputy shot and the suspect dead in Baggs, Wyoming, former mayor Linda Fleming said it's no surprise neighbors rushed to help the fallen deputy. “It's just what we do. People don’t give it a second thought," she said.

Deadly Shootout In Baggs, Wyoming: Neighbors Helped Deputy After Shot By Suspect

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

CASPER - A 21-year-old Brooklyn, New York man pleaded not guilty in Natrona County District Court Tuesday for his part in an alleged three-person conspiracy to target Wyoming banks that police say initially netted the trio at least $12,500 from a Buffalo, Wyoming bank in April.

Anthony Reynolds appeared in the courtroom before Judge Kerri Johnson while his attorney, David Holmes of Gillette, appeared via video.

Johnson went over the charges against Reynolds that include conspiracy to commit forgery and conspiracy to commit theft from the trio’s attempt to get cash  from the ANB Bank in Casper on April 3.

Reynolds told the judge that he understood the charges and penalties against him and plead not guilty.

Holmes asked the judge to reduce Reynolds bond from $85,000 cash to $50,000 cash or surety.

“He has an extremely limited criminal history and is studying to get his GED,” Holmes said. “He has a young child in Brooklyn.”

Holmes told the judge that his client was not involved with drugs and that his family in Brooklyn would ensure he returned for his court hearings. He also said the court could order some type of monitoring device for Reynolds.

Natrona County Assistant District Attorney Amanda Kirby argued that Reynolds was involved in a conspiracy that “affected several counties in Wyoming.”

“He rented the car and drove across the country,” she said. “Bond is appropriate.”

Johnson agreed with Kirby and kept bond where it was initially set.

“Mr. Reynolds has zero ties to Wyoming,” she said. “He fled Natrona County and fled to a county south of here.”

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Charges against Reynolds stem from a 911 call from Casper’s ANB Bank branch about 4:30 p.m. on April 3 about a woman attempting to obtain a $8,400 line of credit using a military ID of a female they did not believe was the person standing in front of them.

When police responded, they found Christine Fitzpatrick, 38, walking down a nearby alley toward a black Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback. When the officer initiated her lights, the hatchback took off.

Information about the vehicle shared with other state law enforcement resulted in Laramie County deputies spotting the car that contained Reynolds and John Stallworth, 45. The pair were initially arrested on drug possession charges and subsequently sent to Casper to face the Natrona County charges.

An affidavit in the case states that after stopping the Mitsubishi in the area of I-25 and I-80 it was found to have a Tennessee registration.

“During the course of their investigation, Laramie County Sheriff’s Office located numerous receipts, four cell phones, and “thousands of dollars in cash in a Dorito’s bag,” the affidavit states.

Fitzpatrick told authorities that she was a crack cocaine addict and that Stallworth was her boyfriend.

Casper police reported that in addition to a fraudulent U.S. Army ID, Fitzpatrick carried a fraudulent U.S. passport. Both had the same name on the IDs and displayed Fitzpatrick’s photo.

“(Fitzpatrick) stated that during her three days in Wyoming she committed several line-of-credit withdrawals from numerous banks in the state,” the affidavit states. “Two days prior to 

 this incident, she made three successful withdrawals in the amount of $8,400 at unknown banks.”

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Fitzpatrick told police she had two unsuccessful attempts at other banks in the state on April 2 but had been able to successfully withdraw $12,500 from the ANB Bank in Buffalo. 

The woman also told police she did not know what city she was in but knew she was in the state of Wyoming and that she knew the IDs she possessed were fraudulent. 

Fitzpatrick also told police she had been instructed to leave all her identifying information in New York.

A phone seized from Fitzpatrick contained information on the name of the person on the passport and U.S. Army ID. 

The Washakie Sheriff’s Office contacted Casper police about an identity theft case involving the name of the woman on the IDs carried by Fitzpatrick, the affidavit states.

The Buffalo Police Department confirmed to a Casper investigator the theft of $12,500 from the Buffalo ANB Bank branch.

Fitzpatrick plead not guilty to the charges against her on May 12 and remains in jail. Stallworth is in jail and set for arraignment on July 8.

Both the conspiracy to commit forgery and theft charges against Reynolds carry potential penalties of 10 years in prison and $10,000 fines. 

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<title>Brooklyn Man Charged in Multi-Bank Fraud Scheme Pleads Not Guilty in Casper Court | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 21-year-old Brooklyn man pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Natrona County District Court for his alleged role in a three-person conspiracy to target Wyoming banks. Police say the group stole thousands of dollars from a bank in Buffalo, Wyoming, in April.

Brooklyn Man Charged in Multi-Bank Fraud Scheme Pleads Not Guilty in Casper Court

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

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

After a string of 90-plus-degree days in early June, the last thing you’d expect to see in Wyoming’s forecast is a chance of snow.

Nevertheless, there’s a good chance of rain and snow showers in Yellowstone National Park between Tuesday night and Wednesday. Daytime highs on Wednesday will be in the high 40s at Old Faithful.

“The peaks will get glistened up with a little bit of white when the heaviest part of the storm comes through over the next 24 hours,” said Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day.

Over the next two weeks, temperatures could drop between 15 and 20 degrees below average, or even lower. Day called it "an interesting pattern" that’ll put a dent in the sunny start of summer.

“This is just the continued weirdness that we've had since November,” he said. “It's summer's trying to start, but it just can't get going yet.”

The source of this unseasonable summer weather is what Day and other meteorologists are calling “a cold trough.” It’s part of the natural ebb and flow of ongoing weather systems.

“We had an upper-level ridge and high pressure overhead last weekend, which helped have those hot 90-degree temperatures,” said meteorologist Molly Gerhardt with the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Riverton. “This kind of pattern shift will have a trough, generally the opposite of a ridge, that will help keep temperatures on the cooler side.”

The cold trough will move from west to east over the next few days. Gerhardt anticipates the system will bring cooler temperatures and “some helpful moisture,” but not a lot of it.

“There isn’t an impressive amount of moisture with this system, but it is going to drop some rain, and perhaps some snow in those higher elevations of the Tetons and Wind River Mountains.”

Day agreed that there won’t be much moisture in his system, but the shift is significant. In his words, “the cool is coming.”

“This system is blowing up every seasonal forecast for June,” he said. “Whatever you’ve heard or seen about what’s happening in June, just scratch it.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Unseasonable Start To Summer"}]

Wyoming’s temperature will be on a bit of a roller coaster for the next week.

After Wednesday’s high-elevation snow, Wyoming will jump back into more summer-like temperatures.

“This cold front will drop temperatures 5 to 10 degrees below normal, but that won't last too long,” Gerhardt said. “We'll get back near to even above normal temperatures, 5 to 10 degrees above normal, by Friday.

By the end of the weekend, temperatures will dramatically shift again in the opposite direction. Day called them “remarkably cool” for mid-June.

“I'm looking at temperature anomalies as much as 20 degrees or more by Sunday and Monday,” he said. “That means take 20 degrees off what the average high is, so you could have daytime temperatures in the 40s and low 50s in Yellowstone.”

The NWS anticipates daytime highs in the 70s for the rest of Wyoming on Sunday and Monday.

That pattern could continue through the week. Gerhardt said the guidance being monitored by the NWS indicates “a pattern shift” toward cooler temperatures.

“Some outlooks are trending toward below normal temperatures, especially for the eastern half of the state, with maybe a slight uptick in precipitation,” she said. “That would be anywhere from the 60s to low 70s, which is generally below normal for this time of year.”

Day wanted Wyomingites to understand how baffling the next week will be across the state. It’ll be a constant back-and-forth that’s decidedly not summerlike.

We have this cool front coming through the next couple of days,” Day said. “There’s going to be a brief warm-up Friday and Saturday, then temperatures reverse and go right back down again starting Saturday night into Sunday, and then the coolness persists for most of next week. It’s blowing up the long-range forecast.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Delayed Reaction"}]

What stood out to Day about the short-range forecast was how it didn’t look like June. If anything, it looks like what May should have been.

While May brought much-needed precipitation to portions of Wyoming, the entire month was 

 for most of the state. The next week’s weather looks more like May than May did.

“Our weather’s behaving like it’s three or four weeks out of sync,” he said. “What we saw in parts of May was really what we should have but didn’t get in March and April, and now June is showing signs of what sometimes happens in May.”

The real question is whether that pattern will persist. Will July be more June-like?

Both Day and Gerhardt said it’s too early to say. Extended forecasts indicate a return to form with hotter, drier days by the end of June, but those same extended forecasts have been consistently wrong since November.

“From the NWS’s Weather and Climate Prediction Center, it looks like things will be trending back into those near-summer temperatures that we typically feel, if not above normal, by the end of June into early July,” Gerhardt said. “We’ll see how things pan out over the next couple of weeks.”

Day cautioned outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes to prepare themselves. Most people are prepared for overnight chills or a day of below-average temperatures, but the next two weeks will be beyond that.

“What's striking is that this will be multiple days of cooler weather,” he said. “We'll rebound by the end of the month, but we're definitely hitting a cool patch. If you're doing outdoor stuff, you need to be prepared for cool, wet weather in the middle of June.”

Snow yellowstone 6 9 26

<title>Merry Christmas! Yellowstone To Get June Snowstorm As Cold Front Dips Into Wyoming | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After a string of 90+ degree days, snow is heading for Yellowstone National Park on Wednesday. Meteorologist Don Day says all of Wyoming should expect cooler than usual weather in the next two weeks. “This is just continued weirdness,” Day said.

Merry Christmas! Yellowstone To Get June Snowstorm As Cold Front Dips Into Wyoming

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, June 9th.  I’m Mac Watson

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Before the Carbon County emergency services scanner went dark on Monday afternoon, law enforcement personnel described an active shooter incident and manhunt in Baggs. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports at least one law enforcement officer was injured and a trooper’s car was “shot up.”

“The man had emerged from a home in Baggs had fired a shot, and was trying to get into another apartment room in an apartment complex, and then he left that scene in a black truck. A trooper, a deputy, other law enforcement potentially started to converge. One officer reported that he was doing a traffic stop on the truck, and then we hear ‘Shots fired, shots fired!’ One deputy was taken to care after residents performed first aid, and then Trooper 132 as he was called on scanner traffic, said that his truck had been shot up.”

The public learned of the incident when Carbon County emergency services called for a shelter in place due to an active shooter situation.  As of Monday night, the status of the shooter was unconfirmed.

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A downed power line is believed responsible for the Raven Creek Fire which has burned 3,900 acres of land in northeast Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that Weston County Fire Warden Daniel Tysdal said they're experiencing “late-summer fire weather conditions and fire behavior.”

“Fire Warden Tisdale said that the fire itself is not a major concern, it's just a warning for what's to come. They're dealing with severe drought conditions, and they're seeing late summer fire patterns, and it's just the beginning of June. As of Monday afternoon, the fire is 100% contained. It burned about 3800 acres. I did talk to a local rancher family, and I could just say that their ranch family was hit by it. No livestock were injured, just a lot of fence was burned, and they are praying for rain.”

The blaze was started just days after the nearby Shipwheel Fire was started by lightning and burned 456 acres in the same corner of the county.

At a panel discussion on Saturday, Cheyenne leaders and industry officials said data centers are already helping stabilize electric rates and are opening new land for housing. But Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that skeptics still aren’t buying it.

“This has actually happened here in Cheyenne. Meta paid like a million bucks to run three miles of water and sewer lines to its center, so that they can, you know, provide the domestic water. They're on a closed loop system, but they still have restrooms for the employees and water for the break rooms and that kind of thing, and so they spent a million bucks to bring that three miles to their data center. Well, where housing developments in that area were economically unfeasible. So, you've kind of opened up this whole new place where development can come in, like housing or shopping, whatever, retail businesses, and that kind of thing.”

Cheyenne LEADS Executive Director Betsey Hale tells Cowboy State Daily that Cheyenne has 10 data centers already operating, five under construction, and nine more announced or in planning stages. Another 36 data center companies or site selectors have expressed some level of interest in Cheyenne or Laramie County,

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Big Horn County Search and Rescue had to rescue two German tourists after Google Maps got their rented Jeep stuck on a backcountry road. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that a Wyoming tow truck driver put it bluntly, “If you're going to be in the Bighorns, don't trust Google.”

“In Wyoming, a Google Maps directive can lead you down a dirt track road or to a road that's closed or that's only seasonally, seasonably open or seasonally open, and that's what these German tourists found out. The tourists were visiting Medicine Wheel, and Google Maps gave them a shortcut to get the shell, and as they're going down that shortcut, they realized that their vehicle was not the kind that they would want for that particular road. They turned around, they tried to get back to where they started, and then they lost two of the tires because of a sharp rock. They didn't go there by accident. Google Maps told them that that was a viable route, and they trusted Google Maps to get them from point A to point B.”

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.

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I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

A Cody river guide said his raft was nearly sunk by an electric fence wire strung too low across a river in Park County, while he was out on a float with his girlfriend and her young son on Sunday. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that Ryan Anue says the situation could have “gone bad fast.”

“They came across an electric wire that had been serving across the river, electric fencing wire, no big deal, they, you know, so they ducked into that, but then as soon as they popped up from under that one, they saw a second one was there, and the guy said that this one was kind of bowed down into the river a little bit, so they had to kind of go to one side, and when they did that, it caught on what they call a thigh brace, which is kind of like a metal brace that sticks up out of this inflatable raft. The guy said it was starting to drag the boat underwater, it was just total chaos.”

Everyone made it to safety, but as Ryan sees it, the manner in which the wire was strung over the river was hazardous and possibly illegal. He said that he reported it to the Park County Sheriff’s Office.

The State Land Board voted 3-2 Monday to pause its work to halt two controversial wind leases — until a court decides a major legal question on them. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Secretary of State Chuck Gray called it “irregular,” but Auditor Kristi Racines cast it as common sense.

“While the Wyoming Supreme Court decides a major legal question about one of the two similar leases, um, Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Superintendent Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder voted against it. Gray called the process irregular, but State Auditor Kristi Racines, who was among the three aye votes, along with the governor and the treasurer, said she basically cast it as a common sense move, like this isn't about being pro or anti win project, this is about giving the court some space rather than digging potentially a deeper hole, legal hole for ourselves.”

The board comprises Wyoming’s top five elected officials: Racines, Gray, Gov. Mark Gordon, Treasurer Curt Meier, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.

Oklahoma resident Les Vandever says he is still stunned after seeing a man charging into a herd of bison in Yellowstone. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Vandever says “It was a moment of unbelievable stupidity.”