Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more information about the law enforcement response and the area where the shooting took place.
Yellowstone National Park rangers shot and killed a person early Thursday morning during an exchange of gunfire that also left a ranger injured, the park announced.
The law enforcement ranger was in stable condition and receiving medical care at a nearby regional hospital late Thursday morning. The park’s announcement did not disclose the nature of the ranger’s injuries.
There was no active threat to the public at the time of the park’s announcement.
The park described a “significant law enforcement incident” that occurred at Canyon Village in central Yellowstone overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning. Rangers responded to the area after learning that a person with a gun was making threats, the park said.
When rangers contacted the person, whom Yellowstone did not identify, they and the individual exchanged gunfire. The park announcement did not state how many rangers were involved in the shooting.
Firearms are permitted in the national park, but prohibited in certain facilities including visitor centers and government offices. Firing a gun is also prohibited.
Calls to park officials weren’t immediately returned around noon Thursday.
The area around the Canyon Lodge complex remained closed Thursday while authorities investigated the shooting. The FBI is leading the investigation with help from National Park Service special agents.
In an email, an FBI spokeswoman for the agency’s Denver field office said the bureau could not comment beyond what was included in the park’s announcement.
Images from the scene
A retired National Park Service ranger who runs a Facebook page focused on agency news posted photographs of law enforcement officers said to be at the site of the deadly shooting in Yellowstone on Thursday morning.
Retired ranger Greg Jackson posted photographs he said showed armed law officers entering the Bison employee dorm building at the Canyon complex.
Jackson, who left the agency in about 2012, said he received the photographs from the father of a concessionaire’s employee. Jackson did not name the employee or her father.
But he said the female photographer “was a fellow concession employee and had an interaction with the suspect,” who was a male.
“Multiple sources have told me that he was an employee of the park concession,” Jackson wrote on the NPS Ranger News Facebook page. “This squares with the incident photos that show a concession employee housing area.”
WyoFile has been unable to confirm whether the deceased worked for a park concessionaire at Canyon Village. Neither the park service nor Xanterra, which operates the Canyon Lodge and Cabins, returned messages seeking comment mid-afternoon Thursday.
Jackson retired from 23 years with the park service after serving as deputy chief of law enforcement, security and emergency services in Washington, D.C. He said he first received information regarding the shooting from Yellowstone employees who relayed a message sent from Park Superintendent Cam Sholly to them.
Although the incident happened in Yellowstone on the Fourth of July — on a holiday in the world’s most famous pleasuring ground — law enforcement was equipped to deal with the threat, Jackson said.
“They’re trained federal law enforcement officers,” he said. “You can see by photos they’re well equipped for an armed response. They’re quite well trained for things like this.”
Popular part of the park
Canyon Village is perched on the edge of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, one of the park’s premier attractions that features Artist Point and a view of the 308-foot high Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.
There are more than 500 rooms at Canyon Lodge and Cabins, which is situated near the canyon, according to the park’s website.
In addition to the Canyon Lodge and Cabins, the developed complex includes a campground with more than 270 sites.
The shooting occurred at the start of the July 4 holiday weekend during what is typically the park’s busiest month for visitation.
“An exchange of gunfire” with law enforcement usually does not end well for anyone irregardless of the location. It is sad that this occurred in what I consider to be the greatest treasure in the country. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve visited, but each and every time was awe inspiring. Thank God for the professional law enforcement of the rangers and our family will pray for a full and speedy recovery of he wounded officer. It would be interesting to hear more details in the day’s ahead.
I appreciate WYO Files even reporting on this incident. We don’t know what was going on with the young man who had the gun. He was likely having some type of mental health breakdown. We can speculate all kinds of things, but we really don’t know. His family is likely hurting deeply right now. I appreciate the reporting here that presented known facts and didn’t speculate. I am glad that all of the others in the area eere safe.
Well that’s silly…allowing weapons into the park but then people can’t fire them. Why even have guns? If you stay back and away from wildlife you should have no worries.
Thank God the LEO’s responded quickly and surely. I hope the one officer is soon released to go home to his family. Not sorry about the one who caused this passed. He may gotten what he wanted Death by Cop instead of suicide. People left behind now have to deal with the fallout.
The Yellowstone Park Rangers are awesome in how they allow responsible visitors to safely experience nature without hassles while focusing on the few moments when some people get very stupid. The difference is in making all people feel welcome, free to explore, inspiring them to learn, experience nature, respect wildlife all while being ready to respond as needed to a very few bad actors. No overly officious behavior just calm ‘level headed’ thinking in response to any situation. I always love visiting Yellowstone and greatly appreciate all the behind scenes work going on to maintain infrastructure and safety while not overly commercializing the park. It’s a difficult balancing act especially with limited budgets and some unpredictably costs. Congratulations on past achievements and plans for future improvements preserving Yellowstone for future generations.
Good morning,
In my mind words matter, like the difference between “shooting” and “shootout.” From the article, it appears a shootout with police occurred, not a shooting which instills more fear in the public as the word is currently used in the press. To be clear, I am not saying the police did anything wrong, but I do think the reporting could be more clear. Is it WyoFile’s intention to be alarmist and provocative, or simply inform the public? Does WyoFile really want us to add Yellowstone to the agonizing list of places where shootings have occurred? “Shooting” was used 8 times, including the headline, but curiously not in the lede.
Our society is slowly breaking down. It all starts with leadership in DC. Which is sorely lacking. Throw in rampant drug use that alters mental stability/economic pressures/destruction of core family unit and here we are as society. I will get worse.
Based on your analysis to this point I do not know how you can do worse?
Little by little, we regress to our original primitive state. Hopefully, we’ll soon be gone, before we plunder the planet entirely.