Feud spawns shoot-out at White Mesa, police allege

Feud spawns shoot-out at White Mesa, police allege

Jan. 4, 2001

By Jim Mimiaga
Journal Staff Writer

An ongoing neighborhood feud in the small Ute Mountain community of White Mesa, Utah, escalated into gunfire Dec. 19, leaving one man injured and another charged with attempted murder.

Johnny Ketchum Sr., 48, was arrested by the FBI and charged by the U.S. Attorney’s office with assault with intent to commit murder, use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and assault with a deadly weapon within Indian country, according to a federal complaint filed Dec. 21 with U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

He is being held in a halfway house in Salt Lake City, has been appointed counsel, and is awaiting a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 9, according to police.

Although exact details are still unclear, FBI Special Agent Howard M. Martinez reported in the complaint that Ketchum shot at Ricky Cantsee, Jr., 19, and a friend between four and seven times around 9:30 p.m. Dec. 19 as the latter pair attempted to drive away from the Cantsee residence on Cowboy Street in White Mesa.

White Mesa is a reservation town of approximately 200 Utes in southeast Utah. Martinez said he based his conclusions on interviews conducted at the scene.

Cantsee suffered wounds to the chest from shrapnel caused by gunfire deflected off the windshield. He was treated and released from the San Juan County Hospital, according to the complaint.

Responding to a street-fight challenge by Ketchum and others who "called them on," Cantsee and a friend began to approach the group, but quickly backtracked after Ketchum "raised a pistol and fired one shot at them," according to witnesses cited in the federal complaint.

Other witnesses told police that the two fled toward a nearby car after learning from another friend that Ketchum had a gun. Their car was fired upon while backing out to leave the area, with one round injuring Cantsee in the chest, the report says.

The two have a history of conflict. Cantsee allegedly assaulted Ketchum in the recent past, sending him to the hospital, police reported. Cantsee was arrested on three outstanding warrants by the BIA, some related to escalating events leading to the latest violence between the two.

But according to law-enforcement agents involved in the case, the investigation is ongoing, as some witnesses reported an exchange of gunfire between both houses.

"The details are still unclear but from what I understand from other agents it was basically a Hatfield-and-McCoy situation with shots being fired back and forth," said FBI Special Agent Bill Mathews Tuesday.

"That is what happened," agreed a White Mesa community member who did not want to be identified. "Right now everyone here is on edge because a lot of the people involved are still around, and we’re scared that they might, you know, start it up again.

"There is a lot of conflict between those two families," she added.

The BIA deputy stationed in White Mesa was away on vacation when the shooting took place, a fact not lost on those participating in the violent fracas, police said.

Ketchum and Cantsee are enrolled members of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, FBI and San Juan County, Utah, sheriff’s department responded to the shooting incident.