NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, April 15, 2011

INCIDENTS

Canyon de Chelly NM

Manhunt Conducted Following Fatal Shooting

The Navajo Police Department received a report of a shooting at a residence near Ledge Ruin Overlook on the north rim of the canyon early on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 12th. The overlook is about six miles east of the park visitor center on Route 64 and has been closed to visitors for many years due to safety issues. The shooting involved members of a family residing near the overlook who have a history of criminal activity. After an argument, an exchange of gunfire between family members resulted in one fatality and two people wounded. Navajo PD contacted the National Park Service for assistance. Rangers closed off Canyon del Muerto to tours and secured the area around Bare Rock Trail, which suspects could have used to escape apprehension. Navajo PD detained most of the people involved in the shooting near the residence but one person fled on foot, resulting in a manhunt by officers from Chinle, Pinyon, and the Window Rock Special Response Team, Apache County Sheriff's Office deputies, and rangers. The fugitive was tracked by officers and captured a short while later at Dead Man's Curve along the road to Chinle. After officers determined that all suspects had been apprehended, the canyon was reopened. One of the wounded individuals was flown to Phoenix in critical condition and the other was treated at Chinle Indian Health Services. The FBI is investigating the incident. Alcohol was involved. [Tom Clark, Superintendent]

Big South Fork NRRA

Search Underway For Drowning Victim

Rangers received a call from the McCreary County Sheriff's Office late on the afternoon of April 13th reporting an apparent drowning in the river just south of Alum Ford. Rangers responded and began working with Kentucky Fish and Game officers who were already on scene. Three local residents - J.B., C.H., and T.G. - had put in a canoe at Yamacraw Bridge and were fishing their way to Alum Ford. They fished until about 3 p.m., at which time they encountered some strong rapids. The men attempted to paddle through, but capsized. Two of the fishermen were able to swim to shore, but Godfrey was not able to make it. One of the fishermen reported that he tried to assist T.G., but was unable to bring him to shore. An undertow pulled both men underwater and that was the last they saw of T.G. They walked to Alum Ford and called 911 at approximately 5 p.m. A search was conducted by boat and along both banks of the river. A local SAR dog team was in the park training and was called to assist with the search. Efforts were still underway yesterday. Ranger Barry Melloan is IC. [Frank Graham, Chief Ranger]

Death Valley NP

Hiker Pleads Guilty To ARPA Violation

Ranger Mike Nattrass was contacted on March 10, 2007, regarding an overdue hiker in the Saline Valley area. He soon located and contacted the hiker, a 65-year-old man from Carpinteria, California. During the ensuing conversation, the hiker admitted that he had just surface collected 272 artifacts from an archaeological site within the park. Archeological field work was done by Joshua Tree NP archaeologist Jan Keswick shortly thereafter and an ARPA damage assessment report was subsequently completed. Additional investigative work was done by rangers John Fish, Jason Flood, Don Whyte and a special agent. On March 9th of this year, the man pled guilty to one misdemeanor ARPA count. He was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation, payment of $600 in restitution to the park, and payment of a $25 penalty assessment. [Brent Pennington, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Vicksburg NMP - A Mississippi regiment manning the Vicksburg earthworks in 1863 had a mascot known as "Douglas the Camel," which gave the unit its nickname as the "Camel Regiment." His contemporary counterpart and a second camel visited the park this week.

Chief Information Officer - The One General Support System Change Advisory Board has created a process for ongoing management of a list of approved and restricted software applications for all Windows XP/7 workstation computers Servicewide. A link is provided.

Denver Service Center - Richard Marshall will be retiring on April 29th after almost 36 years with Denver Service Center. Photo.

Training and Conference Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation, plus online training. Added this week are the following - a conference on fossil resources and associated symposium on fossil preparation and collections and an entirely new listing of online wilderness training courses.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of Communications and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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