A Carbon County deputy shot three times by a man in Baggs earlier this month is “steadily improving,” Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken announced in a Tuesday Facebook post. 

“While his injuries are severe, we are hopeful that his recovery will continue to progress and his condition will continue to improve,” Bakken said. 

The man who shot the deputy had “stockpiled hundreds of AR15 magazines in his apartment and, by all appearances, had been prepared to initiate a large-scale act of violence,” Bakken disclosed in an earlier Facebook post. 

The deputy, Sgt. Zach Burns, responded to a report on June 8 of an armed man in Baggs near the Colorado state line. After finding the suspect’s truck, he stopped the man in front of an apartment complex in Baggs. After the suspect stopped, he emerged from his truck and opened fire on Burns with a semiautomatic rifle, striking the deputy in the neck, arm and hip.

Law enforcement respond to a report of shots fired in Baggs, Wyoming on June 8, 2026. (Cory Overton)

The suspect, who has not yet been identified, then set fire to the apartment building before getting back into his truck and fleeing north on Wyoming Highway 789. Baggs residents rushed to aid Burns until medics arrived. Burns was airlifted to a trauma center in Colorado.

“The road to recovery will still be long, but we remain optimistic as he continues to improve,” Bakken said of Burns, who has served in the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office since 2015. 

Bakken credited Burns with saving “the lives of countless first responders and community members.” 

The suspect was “shot dead” in a shoot-out with Carbon County deputies on Highway 789. 

“This arrangement was provided courtesy of the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office thanks to the incredible bravery and excellent marksmanship of another member of our team,” Bakken said. 

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident, which Bakken noted is standard procedure for any shooting that involves law enforcement. Bakken said in an announcement last week that “most details” about the incident won’t be released until the investigation is complete. 

Multiple law enforcement agencies and emergency medical services from Colorado and Wyoming responded to the incident.

Maya Shimizu Harris covers public safety for WyoFile. She was previously a freelance writer and the state politics reporter for the Casper Star-Tribune.

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