Roscoe given deferred sentence

Crook County resident John Roscoe has been given a deferred sentence following an incident last October in which he was apprehended at home before he could act on his alleged plan to shoot an employee within the Crook County Courthouse.

Sheriff’s Office deputies went to his home after receiving a warning call from a member of the public.

The call came in at around 3:40 p.m. on October 29 that Roscoe was “upset and had a gun”, according to incident reports from the Sheriff’s Office.

Before long, law enforcement had reason to believe Roscoe was targeting a specific person within the courthouse.

The incident report states that three deputies were dispatched to Roscoe’s property. They set up at the end of the driveway after calls to the residence rang through to an answering machine.

The caller was contacted again at 4:20 p.m. and reported that Roscoe had a pistol and said he was going to the courthouse. According to the caller’s recollection, Roscoe had then left the home.

One witness stated that Roscoe had received a letter from the courthouse. Upon reading the letter, Roscoe allegedly became angry and stated he was going to the courthouse to shoot someone.

With the help of the second witness, who spoke with Roscoe on the phone, deputies were able to ascertain that Roscoe was located in his barn. He eventually agreed to surrender to the deputies.

The court accepted a no contest plea from Roscoe on June 14 on one felony count of possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent.

His sentence was deferred by Judge Stuart S. Healy III, pending successful completion of 18 months of supervised probation, to include an anger management evaluation and twice-yearly written reports of his progress.