State Briefs

No patient data at risk in Gillette ransomware attack

GILLETTE (WNE) — There is no indication that any patient data was compromised by the Friday ransomware attack that has disrupted Campbell County Health’s computer systems, said Matt Sabus, CCH IT director, in a press conference Monday afternoon. 

CCH has no estimated time for when its computer systems will be restored after Friday’s ransomware attack, but in the meantime it is continuing to serve patients.

During a press conference Monday afternoon, Dr. Nicholas Stamato, chief of medical staff at CCH, said while the situation is “an inconvenience,” it hasn’t rendered the organization unable to take care of patients.

“Since the attack occurred, we have provided continuous, uninterrupted medical services to our patients in the community,” said EMS Director Chris Beltz, adding that there are additional ground and air ambulances ready to transfer patients if needed.

CCH board chairman Dr. Ian Swift said the board has authorized CCH management to “take whatever steps are necessary to restore full service and care to the community.”

The organization is in talks with law enforcement agencies, as well as the state department of Homeland Security, DCI and FBI.

Swift said there’s a “sense of calm” in CCH, and that it’s doing everything it can to get things back to normal.

“It has been an unbelievable surprising turn of events over the last few days,” he said. “It’s been exhausting, and I’ve watched the leaders, administration and staff of this hospital rise to the occasion and become completely engaged.”

Dog alerts homeowner to fire

CHEYENNE (WNE) — The old adage goes that heroes come in all shapes and sizes.

For Jessie Harrison, that shape was Mikey, the small gray Shih Tzu that’s been her companion for more than a decade. Monday afternoon, that friend turned hero, alerting her to flames by licking the vinyl siding on the west side of her home at 7915 E. Pershing Blvd.

“He was sitting right there with me in the living room when he started raising Cain,” Harrison said as she sat inside the side door of an AMR ambulance with Mikey standing over her right shoulder.

“At first, I came out to see what was going on, and then I called 911. ...They said, ‘Are you out?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m out. But the only thing is my little dog is in the house.’ She said, ‘Don’t go back in there.’”

After arriving on the scene shortly after 2:47 p.m., firefighters were able to rescue Mikey unharmed from the white ranch-style home with red decorative shutters.

Manny Muzquiz, operations chief for Laramie County Fire District 2, said his department and others were able to limit the damage to one front room that Harrison called “the music room.” Agencies that responded to a mutual aid call included Laramie County Fire District 1, Cheyenne Fire Rescue, F.E. Warren Air Force Base and the Wyoming Air National Guard fire brigade.

Riverton police kill man after knife attack

RIVERTON (WNE) — A Riverton Police Department officer shot a man to death Saturday afternoon outside Walmart after the man attacked the officer with a knife, eyewitnesses said.

The shooting happened on the sidewalk outside the south entrance to the store on North Federal Boulevard, adjacent to a temporary hamburger stand that was being operated at the store by Riverton’s Veterans Hall group for a Saturday fundraiser.

The RDP officer was not injured. The knife appeared to have struck the officer on protective vest he was wearing over his torso.

After the knife attack, witnesses said, the officer ordered the man to disarm, and when the man did not comply he was killed by a single shot to the head by the officer.

Some witnesses said the man might have moved aggressively toward the officer again before he was shot.

The Riverton Ranger’s accounts of the incident came from witnesses at the scene, corroborated at least once by separate, additional witnesses.

Neither RPD or the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the shooting, had made an official statement by 4 p.m. Saturday.