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

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Law Enforcement

Editor's note: Cowboy State Daily managing editor Greg Johnson is in Baggs and will update the story when new information is available.

— It was a busier-than-usual Monday at the Cowboy Inn Restaurant, Bar and Motel along Wyoming Highway 789 near the southern edge of town, which in this hamlet of 411 people near the Colorado border is about a two-minute drive from the northern end.

Across the highway, more than a dozen law enforcement vehicles were parked on the shoulder of the southbound lane. They represented nearly as many agencies from across central and southern Wyoming and northern Colorado.

They’ve all responded to a small, faded yellow, two-story apartment building that’s cordoned off with crime scene tape, along with a couple of nearby houses.

They’d been there since about noon, responding to reports of an active shooter at the apartment building and a brief search for the suspect, according to a “shelter in place” order sent to area residents that said authorities were looking for an “active assailant.”

Before the Carbon County emergency services scanner went dark Monday, law enforcement personnel described 

 and manhunt, where at least one law enforcement officer was injured and a trooper’s car was “shot up.”

For Baggs Mayor Matthew Howell, that was the beginning of a long waiting game. He told Cowboy State Daily at about 7:15 p.m. Monday that his home is near the apartment building and that he wasn’t yet allowed back.

Earlier in the day, he described the situation to Cowboy State Daily simply as “it’s not good,” and declined to comment further, saying he wanted to wait until the initial investigation was over to know just what went down before possibly talking out of turn.

He reiterated that response later in the day and deferred further questions to investigators.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Hanging Out"}]

Howell was one of dozens hanging out near and in the Cowboy Inn parking lot throughout Monday afternoon and evening.

There was only one topic of conversation: whatever happened in that apartment and how unusual it is for a law enforcement response this heavy in their quiet, small town.

“Oh yeah, this is for sure the most exciting thing that’s happened in … I can’t remember,” said one longtime resident eating a burger and fries from the tailgate of a pickup.

Like most people Cowboy State Daily spoke with, she declined to give and name, but was friendly and upbeat while gazing across the highway with concern.

At about 7 p.m., the parade of law enforcement vehicles cordoning off the apartment property from the highway parted to make way for a large trailer with “Sweetwater County Bomb Squad” printed on it.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Initial Response"}]

By 9 p.m., there still hadn’t been any official reports about what happened or confirmation of the earlier emergency scanner traffic that reported an injured law officer.

That scanner traffic erupted at about 12:55 p.m. 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.

“He 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 No. 1, and now he came out and he’s heading back upstairs,” the dispatcher narrated.

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

The reports continued, relating that the man fled north in a pickup and at one point was “now shooting at the patrol vehicle.”

In the meantime, the bar at the Cowboy Inn was lively with chatter about the “active assailant” incident, mostly starting with, “I heard …” as officers and personnel from various sheriff’s and police departments filtered in and out.

By closing time — which in Baggs comes at 8:30 — the scene across the road hadn’t changed much.

Baggs Sweetwater County Bomb Squad arrives 6 8 26

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

<title>‘Active Assailant’ And Officer Shot Reports Has Baggs On Edge | Cowboy State Daily</title>

It was a busier-than-usual Monday at the Cowboy Inn along Wyoming Highway 789 near the southern edge of Baggs. Across the road is an apartment building where an “active assailant” incident began that included reports of an officer being shot.

‘Active Assailant’ And Officer Shot Reports Has Baggs On Edge

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

Clair McFarland

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 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.”

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

An active shooter manhunt unfolded Monday in Baggs where one deputy was injured and a trooper’s car was “shot up.” The shooter died on scene, the sheriff said.

Deputy Injured, Shooter Dead In Baggs Active Shooting

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

A Cody river guide said that 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.

“It was sketchy,” Ryan Anue told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. “It was definitely a situation that could have gone bad fast.”

As he 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.

Park County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Monte McClain confirmed that the incident had been reported, and deputies were looking into it.

“There’s no law violation, so far, that we were able to find,” he told Cowboy State Daily.

McClain and Anue said that the owners of one ranch in the area told them the fence wire wasn’t theirs, but belonged to neighboring ranch.

McClain said that as of Monday, deputies hadn’t been able to make contact with the owners of that ranch. Cowboy State Daily was also unable to contact the ranch owners.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"‘We Yelled At Him To Duck’"}]

Anue owns Wyoming Wings & Waters guide service, but said that he was floating the South Fork of the Shoshone River, above Buffalo Bill Reservoir, purely for fun on Sunday with his girlfriend and her 9-year-old son.

They were in his 13-foot inflatable fishing raft.

“That water was high and off-color,” and so, not good for fishing, Anue said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"But they still had a great time."}]

“The current was ripping. It was just a really fun float, there’s some rapids in there,” Aune said.

About two miles above the take-out point, he spotted some wire strung across the river.

There was no way around it, so he decided to take the raft underneath it.

“The 9-year-old was sitting in the front and we yelled at him to duck,” and then the adults did likewise, he said.

They cleared the wire, which was high enough for the raft’s metal thigh brace bars to pass underneath it, he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Second Wire, And Chaos"}]

“We popped our heads back up, and suddenly we see, there’s another wire right there,” Anue said.

“The first wire was head-high. The second wire was neck-level on river right and river left. Down the middle, the wire was bowed, it was probably boat-level, probably two feet off the river,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“We chose river right,” he added."}]

That time, they didn’t clear the wire. It caught on the raft’s rear thigh bar, and chaos ensued, Anue said.

“The boat was literally going under. We were being dragged under,” he said.

 Anue said he started trying to fling the wire off the bar.

“I’m pretty sure the wire was hot (electrically charged). My shirt got fried and cut open but I didn’t get zapped,” he said.

Finally, the wire apparently came loose from one of its shore connections and “in all the chaos and adrenaline,” Anue said he managed to get it off the thigh bar and the raft floated free.

“Nobody’s hurt and the boat is fine,” he said.

Typical of a child that might not realize the gravity of such a situation, “the kid thought it was kind of funny,” Anue added.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"What Does The Law Say?"}]

Whether it’s legal to put fences or other barriers across rivers in Wyoming remains somewhat contentious.

Landowners may not block passage on navigable waters. But that leaves open for interpretation what actual blockage and “navigable water” mean.

Tensions over the matter recently flared up over a landowner allegedly 

 connecting Pine Creek and the New Fork River near Pinedale.  

A squabble between a Wyoming landowner and a floater in the late 1950s ended up going all the way to the Wyoming Supreme Court in the 1961 case, 

At the heart of the case was whether landowners have the right to deliberately block passage along floatable waters passing through their property. 

The court ruled that landowners can’t do that — because waterways are essentially a public right-of way. 

However, landowners can claim ownership of the river or streambed underneath the water. 

That means that jumping out of a watercraft to wade, or anchoring a boat to a private streambed amounts to trespassing. 

The exception the court made in its Day v. Armstrong decision is when floaters must exit their craft to go through, over or around shallow spots in streams, or barriers across them.  

Fencing may also be placed across a waterway, so long as it isn’t blocking the passage in such a manner that floaters can’t easily go under or around it.

 with dangling vertical safety strings, could help ease tensions between landowners and floaters.

Cody rafters 1 6 8 26

<title>Cody River Guide Says Electric Wire Across River Nearly Sunk Raft With Child In It | Cowboy State Daily</title>

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. "This could have gone bad fast," he said.

Cody River Guide Says Electric Wire Across River Nearly Sunk Raft With Child In It

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Public Safety

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"UPDATE: 5:15 p.m."}]

Active Shooting In Baggs, Wyoming: Scanner Traffic Says Law Enforcement Officer Injured

Residents in the Baggs of Carbon County area were ordered to shelter in place Monday afternoon as law enforcement officers responded to a report of shots fired and searched for what authorities described as an "active assailant."

At about 1:50 p.m., residents received an emergency alert that read: "Active assailant in Baggs area. Please shelter in place."

Details about the incident remained scarce Monday afternoon as multiple law enforcement agencies converged on the small south-central Wyoming community near the Colorado border.

Wyoming Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Aaron Brown said that troopers were responding to a report of shots fired in the area.

Multiple agencies are responding to Baggs in Carbon County on reports of shots fired, and an emergency message is advising: “Active assailant in Baggs. Please shelter in place.” “There is an active situation — and it's not good," said the mayor of Baggs.