Charges filed after shots fired

A night of pool ended badly for a group of Rock Springs residents and resulted in one man being arrested and charged with attempted murder.

Norman Leroy Lange was charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder and one misdemeanor charge of reckless endangering. If convicted, Lange could face life in prison.

According to court documents, Lange was playing pool at the Bare Back Saloon the evening of June 28, 2015 with Stephanie Macy, and her friends Veronica Martinez and Tony Bowen. While the group played pool, Macy, Martinez and Bowen allege Lange attempted to make a wager with Macy, saying if he won the game, Macy would perform a sexual act on Lange. Macy said Lange would not leave her alone about the wager and told Bowen about Lange’s actions. Bowen, upon hearing of the wager, assaulted Lange. After the two were physically separated, Lange left the bar. Lange later told investigators he parked in front of the bar for roughly 30 minutes, feeling angry about the events that had occurred earlier.

Macy, Bowen and Martinez decided to leave the bar for a late-night restaurant and left the bar in two separate vehicles, Macy and Martinez in Macy’s vehicle, while Bowen drove Martinez’s vehicle.

As the two vehicles drove onto Bridger Avenue, Macy heard a loud noise, followed by her back window breaking. Bowen heard multiple gunshots from his location behind Macy’s vehicle, telling investigators the third shot broke Macy’s back window. Bowen said he heard two more shots, both of which hit the vehicle he was driving. 

As the shots were being fired, Bowen said he saw a pair of headlights very close to his vehicle. After the shots were fired, Bowen said the vehicle, a red pickup truck, stopped abruptly, u-turned and drove away at a high rate of speed. Bowen attempted to chase the vehicle. Bowen chased the vehicle over the A Street Bridge. Bowen noticed a police car in front of the truck and attempted to flash his lights to stop the police car, which turned onto another street and parked behind the Rock Springs Police Department building. The truck sped off at a high rate of speed and Bowen yelled to the officer that his vehicle had been shot. The officer then sped off to catch up to the truck. While Bowen was chasing the truck, Macy drove back to the Bare Back Saloon and called the police. Bowen stayed near the police department for a few minutes, then decided to park Martinez’s vehicle at Wal-Mart and called a friend to take him back to his apartment.

Court documents state Sergeant Robinson, an RSPD officer, was driving his patrol car when a vehicle approached from behind, driving very close to the patrol car and erratically. Robinson turned onto a side street while the vehicle, which he described as a dark colored truck, drove away. A second vehicle pulled behind Robinson. Its driver, Bowen, advised the officer the truck’s driver fired upon his vehicle. Robinson drove off and was able to locate the truck, initiating a traffic stop.

Robinson identified the driver as Lange and noticed he appeared to have several head injuries and was bleeding. Lange said he was beaten up by a man at the Bare Back Saloon and was transported to the emergency room at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. Robinson noticed in plain sight inside the truck were a rifle within easy reach of the driver and several spent .22 rounds. Robinson returned to where Bowen notified him of the shooting, but was unable to locate him. The RSPD then received a call about Macy’s vehicle. Martinez’s vehicle was located at Wal-Mart and towed to the RSPD’s evidence annex.

Martinez’s vehicle has sustained multiple bullet impacts. One round had entered into the left side of the truck area and was located inside the truck. Two more rounds impacted the top of the truck and skipped into the rear window, while another round hit the rear window. Bullet fragments were found in the headliner of Martinez’s vehicle, near the rear passenger portion, as well as the rear center brake light. Another round was found to have entered the front passenger door, going through the door and hitting the door jam. That round was not located.

An inspection of Macy’s vehicle revealed it too had been hit by gunfire multiple times. One round struck the rear window of her vehicle and was in line with the driver’s head while another struck the vehicle’s rear pillar near the back window. No bullets were located in Macy’s vehicle.

A search of Lange’s truck revealed a Marlin .22 caliber rifle near the rear floorboard inside the truck, along with eight spent .22 caliber casings and a box of .22 caliber ammunition in the center console.

Lange, while in the emergency room, told investigators he did not know why Bowen beat him. Lange sustained a large gash in his head which required staples to close. After being discharged, Lange was taken to the RSPD and interviewed, where he denied shooting his rifle at either vehicle. Lange said he followed Macy, Martinez and Bowen when they drove onto Bridger Avenue, towards Elk Street. Near the A Street Bridge, Lange said he noticed a car behind him and believed it to be driven by Bowen. Lange told investigators he drove fast to break away and lose Bowen, saying he was afraid of the car following him. He also said he wasn’t aware of how Bowen got behind him, admitting he followed Bowen’s vehicle from the Bare Back Saloon to Pilot Butte Avenue.

Lange is currently being held at the Sweetwater County Detention Center on a $200,000 cash or surety bond.