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FORT DUCHESNE, Uintah County — For the second time in two weeks, federal agents are investigating a shooting on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in northeastern Utah.
The incidents, however, do not appear to be linked, according to FBI special agent Bill Facer.
On Tuesday, a 30-year-old man was wounded at about 6:40 p.m. as he sat in a parked car outside his house in Fort Duchesne's Turnkey subdivision, Facer said.
The injured man, an enrolled member of the Colorado-based Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, was initially taken to Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt. He was later flown to a Salt Lake hospital, where he is recovering, Facer said.
The FBI is not releasing any additional information about the incident. It is the second shooting on the reservation since Feb. 17, when a 15-year-old boy was wounded in the hand.
The teen showed up at Uintah Basin Medical Center while authorities were still investigating a "shots fired" call near St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church in Whiterocks, Uintah County Undersheriff John Laursen said.
About an hour later, multiple shots were fired again in the Whiterocks area. No injuries were reported in the second shooting.
Uintah County sheriff's deputies took part in the initial investigation of the first shooting, until it was determined the incident had taken place on Ute tribal land and involved enrolled tribal members. At that point, the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs assumed responsibility for the case.
Federal investigators have released few details about the February shooting incidents, except to say one involved the occupants of a white Dodge Charger and a black Chevy Cobalt. The same Chevy Cobalt was apparently involved in the second shooting, as was a dark green or dark blue sport-utility vehicle, Facer said.
