NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, September 7, 2012

INCIDENTS

Delaware Water Gap NRA

Rangers Assaulted During Beach Confrontation

On the afternoon of Sunday, September 2nd, rangers received a call from park dispatch regarding a group of people threatening to drown NPS lifeguards at a park beach in Milford. Rangers Keith Winslow, Andrew Winslow and Elizabeth Winslow soon arrived at the beach and ordered the members of the group out of the water. While dealing with them, other family members came down from the beach pavilion and became disorderly. Acting on information from the lifeguards, who'd identified the woman who'd instigated the problem, Keith Winslow removed her from the crowd and placed her under arrest. He was attempting to walk her to his patrol vehicle when a man from the group started interfering. He squared off at both Keith Winslow and Andrew Winslow, and, despite repeated commands to back off and leave, moved in and chest bumped Keith Winslow. The ranger responded with a stiff arm in an attempt to push the man away, but he again came back at Winslow and was taken to the ground, where he continued to fight to regain control of his hands. Elizabeth Winslow heard the commotion and came over from the lifeguard stand, where she had been getting witness statements. Family members had pressed in tight on the two rangers struggling with the man on the ground, so she took her taser out of its holster and commanded them to back away. She then fired it at the man, striking him in the chest. The probes were too close to one another to be effective, though, so she fired a second time, this time causing the man to stop fighting. The man and woman were arrested. The woman was taken to the ranger station, but the man, as per protocol, was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, as one of the probes struck him in the upper chest close to his neck/throat. One of the rangers suffered injury to his knee, requiring a medical evaluation. Other rangers from both Delaware Water Gap and Upper Delaware responded along with officers from Milford PD and Eastern Pike Regional PD to assist in controlling the crowd. [Eric Provencher, Deputy Chief Ranger]

North Cascades NP

Hiker Dies At Backcountry Camp

Colonial Campground staff members were contacted by a park visitor just after noon on Labor Day and advised that his father had collapsed in the morning at their Panther Creek backcountry camp and was unresponsive. The son performed CPR but was unable to revive his father. He and his nine-year-old daughter then hiked out three miles to the trailhead. Rangers flew in to investigate and document the incident and long-lined the deceased out of the backcountry. Fourteen park staff, including a family liaison and a pilot from HiLine helicopters, were involved in this operation which was concluded by 8 p.m. [Kinsey Shilling, 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/):

Midwest Region - The St. Louis Adventure, a signature event for "Summer of Paddling 2012," an interagency collaboration providing opportunities for new and experienced paddlers to experience the Mississippi River, was held in mid-August.

Aztec Ruins NM - The park welcomed dozens of Aztec High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps members into its ranks this past summer and benefited greatly from the work the students accomplished over just a few months.

Martin Luther King Jr. NHS - Catherine Light, currently superintendent for Chamizal and Gila Cliff Dwellings, has been selected as the park's deputy superintendent. She assumes her new duties on September 23rd.

Northeast Region - A lifelong bond with nature has led Kristina Heiser to her new position as chief of natural resources in Northeast Region, a position she assumed last month.

Servicewide Training and Conference Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation, plus online training. Added to this week's listing is a Servicewide webinar on September 18th on white-nose syndrome, the disease that is devastating bat populations.

* * * *

The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

--- ### ---