One month after Star Valley woman was shot ‘multiple times’ still no arrest

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Someone was shot in Etna. More than once. It’s barely a news story since we have no names—shooter or victim. No arrests. No details whatsoever other than to call it a “domestic relation category” incident.

That’s all police will say at this point…and that’s a problem. An ongoing problem with law enforcement in Lincoln County who have a history of being more than guarded with the media.

Star Valley has always been a close-knit community. Maybe it’s a Mormon thing. Teton Valley is the same way. When a rash of Teton High School student suicides plagued that valley a decade ago, mum was the word to the press even as national experts were called in to assist the school district.

When Afton 14-year-old Ryder Haderlie was killed in the Star Valley High School parking lot in 2018, details were again scant. Afton Police called it an “incident” and assured the public “was never in any danger.” That was all that was ever made public.

It’s not merely assessing a threat level to the public that might be a concern. It’s certainly not all news gatherers deserve to know.

Being the outsider news agency is difficult. Granted, Star Valley is not Jackson Hole’s normal beat but the next-door neighbor community is inextricably tied to Jackson Hole. When someone is shot “multiple times” less than an hour’s drive away, the public, even Teton County’s, deserves more than it was just an “isolated incident.”

Afton-based news outlet SVI Media has uncovered few details so far:

A woman received multiple gunshot wounds on April 14. No additional information was released other than to state, “The public was never at risk.”

Two weeks after the shooting, LCSO released no further information other than to say the woman was recovering at Eastern Idaho Medical Center, and they had not yet had a chance to speak with her due to the severity of her injuries.

A month later, LCSO Captain Brian Andrews was invited on SVI News radio where he again stated the investigation is ongoing. The woman is out of the hospital and was interviewed, he assured. No arrests have been made to date. Andrews stressed again, “There was never a threat to the community or neighbors there. It was isolated.”

We hate to speculate but that’s all that is left when police don’t talk. How has no one yet been arrested? Did this woman shoot herself multiple times? Did a husband or boyfriend have more than one “gun cleaning accident?”

When law enforcement asks for media and public help to identify a person of interest. We have always been there. When cops (or their k9 companions) do great things, we have always played them up as the hero. It’s a tough job, and a thankless one, lately. We get that.

But it works both ways. A little communication would be nice.