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FORT DUCHESNE, Uintah County — Federal agents say they have determined an apparent drive-by shooting that killed a man on the Uintah-Ouray Indian Reservation earlier this month was actually an accident.
Tyrell Sowsonicut, 18, was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Duchesne County Jail for investigation of criminal homicide and tampering with evidence in connection with the June 14 death of Sean Lawrence Checora.
Checora, 20, was shot once in the chest outside a home in Fort Duchesne's Richardson subdivision. Initial reports indicated he was the victim of a drive-by shooting.
Bureau of Indian Affairs police and FBI agents, however, developed information that the drive-by shooting story was false. They eventually learned that Checora was "shot accidentally by an associate," FBI spokesman Todd Palmer said Tuesday.
"All evidence gathered at this point appears to indicate the subject and Sean Checora were good friends," Palmer said, noting that the shooting was not gang related.
"There is no danger to the community," he said.
Sowsonicut is expected to face charges in Ute Tribal Court. He is being held without bail.
