BLUFF, Utah – Steve Wilcox walks cautiously along the San Juan River about five miles outside this southeastern Utah hamlet, peeking suspiciously around the thick Russian olive trees at the river’s edge. Once his favorite spot for quiet lunches and relaxing, a close-encounter with a survivalist fugitive has made him leery.

"I’ve only been back a few times, and the first two times I didn’t even get out of my vehicle," said Wilcox, a social worker from Blanding, Utah.

It’s been nearly a year since that fateful June 4 afternoon when Wilcox arrived in a state-owned Jeep Cherokee at the popular picnic spot near the Swinging Bridge, a wooden walkway that spans the river, and noticed a pair of boots and socks sitting at the water’s edge. Glancing to his left, Wilcox realized he was staring down the barrel of a rifle about 10 feet from his car window.

"It just really startled me to see a guy with a gun pointed at me, and I just figured, ‘Hey, this guy doesn’t want me here,’ " Wilcox said recently. The man, who was dressed in camouflage and wearing a black Kevlar helmet, was expressionless as he raised the rifle to Wilcox’s head.

Still in his car, Wilcox said he accelerated quickly. Seconds later, two bullets ricocheted off the sandstone cliff beside him. The shots missed him, and Wilcox quickly dialed 911 as he sped towards Highway 163, which connects Bluff and Montezuma Creek, about 20 miles to the east.

San Juan County, Utah, Deputy Kelly Bradford, who responded to Wilcox’s report, waited for backup on the canyon rim, about 100 feet above the Swinging Bridge.

Bradford did not realize, however, that after shooting at Wilcox, the man ran across the bridge and positioned himself in a sandy recess on the south side of the river.

Stepping out of his patrol car, Bradford was shot twice – once in the back and once in the shoulder. He eventually recovered from his injuries and was recently promoted to sergeant with the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office.

A few hours later, Special Weapons and Tactics units from the Navajo Police Department and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office found the body of Robert Mason, 26, of Durango, in a shallow recess. Because of the lack of tracks around Mason’s body and the 9 mm Glock handgun found at his side, authorities suspect Mason killed himself.

Several pipe bombs were found near his body and were safely defused.

Wilcox said he had a business appointment near Hovenweep National Monument on the morning of June 4 and had been worried about the trip because he feared meeting the fugitives. But he said he had eased up after departing Hovenweep, and was relaxed by the time he got to the Swinging Bridge at about 12:30 p.m.

"Even when I saw him lying there, I didn’t think, ‘A fugitive,’ " Wilcox said.

Wilcox said he suspects he surprised Mason, who he thinks was possibly letting his feet dry, or was doing some laundry at the river’s edge. Mason might have believed that Wilcox, whose white Jeep bore an emblem similar to that of law enforcement vehicles, was a police officer.

Bradford was the fourth law enforcement officer shot in six days, and he is the only officer still with his police agency. Jason Bishop, who was shot in the back of the head by the three fugitives, quit his job at the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office and now works for a propane company in Cortez, while Todd Martin, who was also severely wounded by the fugitives, left the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office and joined the Colorado State Patrol.

Wilcox said he has talked to several people who believe Mason’s friends, Jason Wayne McVean, 27, of Durango, and Alan "Monte" Pilon, 31, of Dove Creek, are living near Montezuma Creek, and said he believes someone is helping them hide from authorities.