Wyoming Behavioral Institute began an internal initiative in 2024 to create a trauma specific environment of care, where people want to work, and people experiencing mental health crisis want to pursue recovery. All staff, including administrators and physicians, were trained to understand trauma specific care. New employees are taught to use trauma informed methods before interacting with other staff and patients. Benchmarks that indicate care is trauma specific include lower employee turnover rates, higher patient satisfaction scores, and zero utilization of hands on intervention.
WBI’s nursing team is so impressed by the ways trauma informed care has changed the way patients and staff interact that they are taking their learning experience into the community. Nursing Supervisor Mitch Schoenwolf, Staff Development Facilitator Lance Richardson, and Pathways Program Supervisor Shannon Heaton believe that being trauma informed in human interactions in all settings may be one key to reducing the community’s high rate of suicide. In 2024, 32 people died by suicide in Natrona County, and nine of the were younger than 30.¹ Statewide, between 2010 and 2020, 40 young people ages 10 to 24 died by suicide, according to the Wyoming Department of Health.²
“It’s a pandemic,” Mitch said recently when presenting trauma informed strategies in Casper. He quoted a World Heath Organization statistic at 700,000 people die annually worldwide³ and said that equates to a suicide death somewhere every 45 seconds. “We came together around the world to help each other through the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mitch said. “For example, auto manufacturers built medical equipment, and personal protective equipment was gathered and distributed to keep healthcare workers safe. Why aren’t we treating suicide the same way? What are we doing to stop the suicide pandemic?”
Mitch, Lance and Shannon are helping patients, staff, and now the community understand that people learn to use maladaptive behaviors like threats of violence, acts of violence, verbal aggression, and self-harming as the means to getting their needs met – and specifically, comfort. Trauma informed responses to behaviors can create a shift in the dynamic between adults and youth and reduce or eliminate power struggles. When the power struggle ends, the healing begins, they report.
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WBI is also a partner in Project AWARE, a Wyoming Department of Education-led initiative to increase access to mental health and substance abuse services for school-aged youth. Another Project AWARE goal is to develop student stills that will promote resilience, prosocial behaviors and prevent youth violence through outreach, engagement, and training. In Sweetwater County School Districts, trauma-informed support services are offered by WBI in collaboration with the districts to increase student awareness of mental health and wellness while decreasing stigma and stigmatized language. The partners work to increase student resilience through skill building while teaching self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness and responsible decision making.⁴
WBI is offering community education in trauma-informed interactions for any adult working with youth, including law enforcement officers, teachers, school support staff, parents, and teen programs. For more information about free, two-hour trauma informed education presentations, please call Emily Genoff, Director of Business Development, 307-472-2201, or email Emily.quarterman-genoff@uhsinc.com.
Inpatient and outpatient mental health services are offered by WBI for children, teens and adults. Located in Casper, WBI has specialized in helping people experiencing mental health crises for more than 25 years. No cost, confidential level of care assessments, and information about programs and services are available by calling 800-457-9312. More information about treatment options can also be found online at www.wbihelp.com.
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CASPER, Wyo. — The Casper City Council voted Tuesday to approve on first reading a zoning change for a vacant 2.4-acre parcel located at 1530 SE Wyoming Boulevard, transitioning the property from residential to commercial use.
The ordinance reclassifies Lot 4 of the Methodist Church Addition from Residential Estate to General Business. Located between East 15th and East 18th streets, the irregular-shaped property has remained undeveloped since it was first platted in 1984.
While original plans for the subdivision envisioned a church and an associated preschool, Community Development Director Liz Becher reported those projects never materialized.
According to Becher, the applicant sought the rezoning to facilitate the potential installation of a cell tower or an off-premises sign. Under the new C-2 designation, a cell tower up to 130 feet in height is considered a permitted use by right, though any off-premises sign would still require a conditional use permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission. The applicant also owns the adjacent lot to the north, which the city rezoned to general business in 2021.
Becher said the change aligns with the “Employment Mixed Use” classification in the Generation Casper comprehensive land use plan. This designation typically supports civic, institutional and employment spaces.
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Despite the new zoning, the property remains subject to a subdivision agreement that limits traffic access. Entry and exit are restricted to right turns onto or from East 15th Street, and no access is permitted from East 18th Street.
The council will vote on two more readings of the ordinance before it is officially ratified.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Two men were detained in Wyoming in connection with a fatal shooting at a downtown Salt Lake hotel that killed one man.
Carlos Chee, 23, and Chino Aguilar, 21, were both wanted for first-degree felony murder after the victim, identified as Christian Lee, 32, was found dead in a room at the Springhill Suites near 600 South and 300 West.
According to warrants issued for their arrest, Chee and Aguilar met with Lee and another woman at the hotel to sell marijuana. During the alleged drug deal, Aguilar allegedly shot and killed Lee after he tried to grab at his gun.
MORE | Shootings
Investigators said they found Lee dead in the room upon arrival, as well as a single shell casing on the floor and a small amount of marijuana on the television stand.
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The woman told investigators she had met Chee on a dating app and that he agreed to come to the hotel to sell her marijuana. She had been hanging out with him in the room, which Lee rented for her to use, when Lee asked them to leave. Lee was then shot and killed following a brief confrontation.
Chee and Aguilar allegedly fled the scene in a 2013 Toyota Camry with a Texas license plate that was later found outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming just a few hours later.
The two men were taken into custody and detained at the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyoming (KUTV) — A man was hospitalized with critical injuries after he was reportedly shot by a deputy responding to reports of a disturbance.
Deputies with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Rock Springs Police Department responded to the Sweetwater Heights apartment complex in the 2100 block of Century Boulevard just after 4 a.m. on Monday to investigate reports of a disturbance involving an armed individual.
Information that dispatch received indicated that the individual had shot himself. When officials arrived, they found the individual on the balcony of an upstairs apartment “who appeared to have a gunshot wound consistent with the initial report,” a press release states.
MORE | Officer-Involved Shooting
During the encounter, a deputy discharged their weapon and struck the individual.
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Emergency medical personnel rendered aid, and the individual was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
No law enforcement officers or members of the public were injured during the incident.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation will conduct an independent investigation.
The deputy who fired their weapon was placed on administrative leave per standard protocol.
