Wyoming News

AP-WY-WYOMING WILDFIRE

Central Wyoming wildfire prompts evacuations

RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) — A central Wyoming wildfire has spread across several square miles and prompted evacuations of area residents. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said the fire about 50 miles north of Rawlins has burned almost three square miles (about six square kilometers). It started Friday on Bradley Peak was only about 10 percent contained by Sunday. Residents along Long Creek were ordered to evacuate. Bureau spokesman Brad Purdy says the area is sparsely populated. Purdy says the fire is burning in a remote area with limited access for ground crews, so firefighters are using aircraft to attack it from above.

FATAL SHOOTING-CASPER

1 injured and 1 dead in shooting in Casper

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A shooting in Casper, Wyoming, has left one dead and one person injured. The Oil City News reports Casper Police Department spokesperson Rebekah Ladd said at about 7:00 a.m. Friday, officers responded to a reported kidnapping. Reports said a person was being held against their will at gunpoint by multiple people. Officers arrived and then forced their way inside.  Ladd says there was an exchange of gunfire and officers gained entry into the bedroom. Multiple people were found inside the bedroom. One person was injured and one was dead.

EXCHANGE-APP-LOST TOURISTS

Rural neighborhood drew app-dependent Yellowstone tourists

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — Residents of a rural area south of Yellowstone say the Apple Maps app misdirected tourists trying to get to the national park. On Monday they reported that Apple had fixed the problem but not before dozens of lost tourists ended up in their neighborhood. Suzanne Arden tells the Jackson Hole News & Guide mornings were typically high time for the misdirected masses. Her neighbors guess that about 20 vehicles a day end up diverted to the area along the Wyoming-Idaho border. More sympathetic than annoyed, residents tried to make the best of it. One, Carol Gregory, painted some rocks yellow. 

FIREARMS-SENTENCING

Casper man sentenced to more than 6 years in firearms case

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A federal judge in Cheyenne ordered a Casper man to spend six years, five months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Jeremy Dean Priebe will also be on supervised probation for three years after his release from custody. On Jan. 15, the federal grand jury handed up the indictment with the sole count of felon in possession of a firearm charge. Priebe pleaded guilty on March 4. The sentencing dates were changed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

POLICE SHOOTING-WYOMING

1 dead, 1 injured in police shootout at Wyoming apartments

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — One person is dead and another injured in a shootout with police in Wyoming. Police went to an apartment building in Casper early Friday after getting a report that a woman was being held at gunpoint. The Casper Star-Tribune reports officers entered by force, heard gunfire in a bedroom and exchanged fire with people in the bedroom. Police say one person was killed and another taken to a hospital. No officers are hurt. Who shot whom is unclear and the status of the woman reportedly held at gunpoint is unknown. Police say the shooting is being investigated.

FATAL FALL-KEYHOLE

Man dies after fall at Keyhole State Park in Wyoming

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — Park officials in Wyoming say a man died after falling off an embankment during a late-night walk while camping with his girlfriend at Keyhole State Park. The Gillette News Record reported Thursday that 29-year-old Cameron MacNeil was at the Wind Creek Campground near the reservoir when he fell July 22 around 2 a.m. The girlfriend called 911. Wyoming State Parks Deputy Director Nick Neylon says MacNeil was walking with his girlfriend when they came to the edge of a cliff. The couple were talking when MacNeil lost his footing and fell about 20 feet down the embankment. Crook County Coroner Micheal Frolander said MacNeil died of blunt force trauma.