Close Call: Yellow Stone National Park Rangers Stop Mass Shooting

A 28-year-old man who was working at a business located on the grounds of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming fired dozens of shots at a dining facility at the Park before Park Rangers took her out in a shoot-out.

Samson Fussner of Florida was confronted by officers on the morning of July 4th after Milton fired dozens of shots at a dining facility.

After refusing to put down his weapon, park rangers shot Milton, who was later pronounced dead.

Rob Wallace, who served as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, stated, “With reports of dozens, if not hundreds, of shots being fired, the fact that nobody was killed except the shooter tells me the park rangers acted in a very heroic way.”

Gunman killed at Yellowstone dining facility earlier told a woman he planned mass shooting https://t.co/IFBNDImx0C pic.twitter.com/FztMSEeoG4

— New York Post (@nypost) July 10, 2024

Gunman killed by Yellowstone national park rangers as he fired an AR-15 at the entrance of a dining facility with about 200 people inside told a woman he planned to carry out a mass shooting.

Officials identified the shooter as Samson Lucas Bariah Fussner, 28, of Milton, FL. pic.twitter.com/7C6Hs95mtK

— K-12 School Shooting Database (@K12ssdb) July 10, 2024

Check out what ABC News reported:

A 28-year-old man who worked for a business in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming allegedly threatened to carry out a mass shooting before being killed in a shootout with rangers on the Fourth of July, officials said Tuesday.

Samson Lucas Bariah Fussner, of Milton, Florida, was confronted by Yellowstone law enforcement rangers early on the morning of July 4 while allegedly shooting a semi-automatic rifle toward a dining facility at Canyon Village, according to NPS. Approximately 200 people were in the facility at the time, NPS said in an update on the incident Tuesday.

During an exchange of gunfire, Fussner was shot by law enforcement rangers and died at the scene, NPS said. A ranger was also shot in a lower extremity, NPS said. The injured ranger was transported to an area hospital in stable condition and has since been released, NPS said. No other injuries were reported.

Fussner was an employee of Xanterra Parks and Resorts, a private business authorized to operate in Yellowstone, according to NPS.

Xanterra said it is “deeply saddened” by the incident and continue to cooperate with authorities in the investigation.

A man who fired a semiautomatic rifle at a Yellowstone National Park dining hall on the Fourth of July said he had plans to carry out mass shooting at events outside the park, according to a woman who told police he threatened to kill her. https://t.co/JEL16pmMbA

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 10, 2024

Here’s what Cowboy State Daily reported:

Yellowstone National Park rangers likely saved a number of lives in an Independence Day shootout with a contract worker who reportedly took a woman hostage and threatened a mass shooting.

The man died and a ranger was hurt, but nobody else, which is a testament to the rangers who responded during the crisis, says a former top official of the National Park Service.

Samson Lucas Bariah Fussner, 28, of Florida, was reportedly armed and making threats overnight Wednesday in Canyon Village in east-central Yellowstone.

Fussner was an employee of contract company Xanterra, which provides food and hotel services in the park.
A be-on-the-lookout notice from midnight or early morning Thursday said Fussner had taken a female hostage, had threatened to shoot up public places, and had threatened to commit suicide by cop.

At about 8 a.m. Thursday, anywhere between dozens and more than 100 gunshots sounded, according to four guests who spoke to Cowboy State Daily on Friday. After that, park authorities reported that a ranger had been injured and a person, now known as Fussner, was killed.

“(With reports of) dozens, if not hundreds, of shots being fired, the fact that nobody was killed except the shooter tells me the park rangers acted in a very heroic way,” Rob Wallace, who served as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National Park Service, told Cowboy State Daily.