Officer cleared in shooting

RIVERTON (WNE) — Federal prosecutors have declined to bring charges against a Wind River Police Department officer who shot and killed a man armed with a BB gun on the Wind River Reservation in August 2022.

Citing a careful review of the investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming said there is “insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer violated [the victim’s] civil rights or that the officer did not act in self defense.”

An officer was dispatched to the home of Terrance Skye Posey in Ethete on August 11, 2022, after two people called for help saying Posey had threatened them with a knife and

was outside the residence with a BB gun, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

When the officer arrived, the two were inside the residence asking for help, and when the officer knocked on the front door, he observed Posey approach from inside, the release describes.

The statement explains the officer asked Posey to come outside; Posey refused, told the officer to go away and then disappeared into the residence.

That’s when the officer reportedly heard people yelling from inside that they were locked in a bedroom, and Posey returned to the door and pointed a weapon at the officer.

“From the officer’s perspective, the weapon appeared virtually identical to a semiautomatic handgun,” said the release.

When the officer ordered Posey to drop the weapon, Posey allegedly refused, and began tracking the officer as he moved, “and being unable to determine it was not a firearm, the officer shot Mr. Posey through the door,” the statement explained.

The officer attempted to resuscitate Posey but was unsuccessful.

This story was published on March 16, 2024.