Man who made violent threats in Yellowstone will spend five years on probation

JACKSON (WNE) — A Utah man who made death threats in Yellowstone National Park earlier this month has been sentenced to a brief period of incarceration plus unsupervised probation.

There were two cases of disorderly conduct for Robert Sherman, 55, of Holladay, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Wyoming.

In one, he was sentenced to 15 days of incarceration, with credit for 14 days already served, for making threatening statements in the Roosevelt Lodge employee dining room on July 5. According to court documents, multiple witnesses heard Sherman saying, “The next mass shooting will occur here.”

He made that statement one day after gunman Samson Lucas Bariah Fussner, 28, of Milton, Florida, was shot and killed by park rangers after he fired a semi-automatic rifle at a Canyon Lodge dining facility with 200 people inside.

In the second disorderly conduct charge, Sherman was given five years of unsupervised probation. According to court documents, on July 7, witnesses said he made several comments along the lines that he would be “killing people around here.”

Sherman is banned from Yellowstone during his probation term.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie A. Hambrick imposed the sentences on Tuesday.

This story was published on July 25, 2024.