One person reported injured

GERING -- At about 10:55 p.m. May 21, Scotts Bluff County deputies responded to a reported home invasion/armed robbery and assault at a rural Gering residence that is commonly used as a short-term rental.

Three males were inside the residence. They stated that two unknown males, both armed with handguns and wearing hooded sweatshirts and masks had entered the house and forced their way into two downstairs bedrooms.

One suspect assaulted one of the victims by striking him in the head repeatedly with a handgun.

Sharon Henderson, owner of the lodge, wrote a column in response to the incident.

"I can tell you that cleaning up the blood of people off of my floor is sickening… and I had to pay someone to do the worst of it," Henderson said in her column.

The suspects stole credit cards, cell phones, identification, keys to a pickup, cash and a handgun from the victims. The victims were all forced to kneel on the floor. At one point, one of the victims retrieved a cell phone and called 911. The victims said that they didn’t know the suspects and could not identify the vehicle the suspects had, other than it was “loud.” The injured victim was transported to the hospital for treatment.  

The owner of the rental property resides in a nearby house, and the suspects did not enter that house.  She described the incident as taking from her something more important than her wallet.

"Last Tuesday there was an armed robbery at my lodge. No one died, thank God, but people were held execution style at gun point, and people were hurt, and two of us lost a lot: wallets, IDs, money, credit cards, and probably the most valuable was innocent trust in people, which I thought was maybe one of my best qualities. Turns out it really wasn’t, because getting over this one is gonna take some strength, and time. Lots of both," Henderson said in her column.

Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman said his office believes this was a specific, targeted event. 

Nebraska authorities were in contact with Colorado authorities from various agencies. One person of interest is in custody on Colorado charges, one vehicle has been impounded, and some property stolen from the victims has been recovered. Investigators assisted with a search warrant in Colorado, and continue to work closely with Colorado agencies. Scotts Bluff authorities believe that the suspects are not from Nebraska and do not pose a threat to the area.   

The Scottsbluff Police Department, Minatare/Melbeta rescue unit and Regional West ambulance service assisted at the scene.