Wyoming Man Faces Life For Shooting Incident

An Arapaho man could face life behind bars for an alleged shooting that occurred on the Wind River Reservation last year.

According to documents filed late last week in US District Court for Wyoming, Trent Anthony Michael BigMedicine is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm and using, carrying and discharging a firearm during and relation to a crime of violence.

He has not yet had an opportunity to enter pleas to the charges.

A criminal complaint supporting the charges alleges that Wind River Police contacted FBI agents at roughly 6 a.m. May 8 for a reported shooting.

The complaint states investigators later learned that BigMedicine struck a woman in the head with a handgun and then shot her through the shoulder. After the woman was shot, she drove to a friend's house for help where she was contacted by law enforcement.

According to the complaint, the woman was drinking with friends before the incident when she decided to visit BigMedicine as she had not seen him in a while and suspected him of cheating on her.

Court documents state the woman and BigMedicine began arguing and BigMedicine kicked the woman multiple times while she slapped him.

At some point, the complaint states, BigMedicine retrieved a handgun and struck the woman across the face with it. He also reportedly fired it several times in front of her face before one round struck her shoulder.

When asked if he remembered shooting the woman, BigMedicine declined to answer authorities' questions.

The complaint states blood on BigMedicine's clothing was traced back to the woman.