State drops case against Wapiti resident Nina Webber

POWELL (WNE) — Wapiti hunter and Republican leader Nina Webber has been cleared of allegations that she recklessly fired her rifle during a November elk hunt. 

At the request of Park County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric, the pending case against Webber was permanently dismissed on Wednesday. “It’s unfortunate that it had to get this far,” Webber said Wednesday, “and it’s very fortunate that Bryan Skoric and [Circuit Court Judge Joey] Darrah saw to dismiss with prejudice based off of the lack of evidence.” 

The reckless endangerment charge stemmed from complaints by two North Fork residents, who reported that multiple bullets whizzed over their heads on Nov. 30. 

A large group of people had been hunting in a nearby field that morning; then-Park County Sheriff Scott Steward said Webber was cited because she had been pointing her rifle in that direction. 

However, Skoric said timestamped photographs and other evidence he later received showed that Webber “hadn’t even fired a round at the time that the initial call went in.” The complaint was reportedly made at around 7:15 a.m., while Webber didn’t fire her rifle until around 8 a.m. 

In a statement, Webber said she was targeted because of her position as the Wyoming Republican Party’s national committeewoman and as a prior candidate for House District 24, noting then-Sheriff Steward was critical of her candidacy. 

“As you know, it’s been ‘open season’ on conservative Republicans, and I was the victim of a political ‘hit job’ by virtue of being the Republican National Committeewoman for Wyoming,” Webber said.

For his part, former Sheriff Steward — who left the office in January to become a county commissioner — said there was nothing political about the case. 

“It had nothing to do with any of my feelings,” he said Wednesday, “because I wasn’t involved in the case, in any of the investigation.”