Big Horn County man tells deputies to ‘shut up,’ dares them to ‘shoot me’

A 29-year-old Big Horn County man accused of threatening to shoot livestock, then telling deputies to “shut up” and daring them to “act like a dipshit and shoot me” faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted.

Timothy Brian Bates was arrested Thursday after allegedly taking a gun from a family member’s car and threatening to shoot livestock. He remains in the Big Horn County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond, charged with aggravated burglary, interference with a peace officer and reckless endangering.

According to an affidavit, deputies responded to a rural property near Byron where a woman reported Bates had stolen her firearm and was threatening to shoot her livestock. When deputies arrived, Bates walked away despite being called out to multiple times. He told a deputy to “shut up” when given directions to put his hands up, then dared them to “act like a dipshit and shoot me.”

While deputies attempted to detain him, they saw a firearm in the back of his belt line. A loaded pistol with a round in the chamber and 11 rounds in a magazine was removed from his pants; another magazine with 14 rounds was found in his pocket.

Bates had reportedly fired one to three shots from the gun before deputies arrived, possibly into the ground, but a witness said her daughter was playing on a nearby playground when Bates fired the shots. The family member from whose vehicle Bates took the gun said he had no permission to have it and “did not want to give up the gun” even after things calmed down.

During the struggle, Deputy Austin Leonhardt reported experiencing pain in his right wrist, lower back and knee. Aggravated burglary carries a sentence of five to 25 years, felony interference carries up to 10 years, and reckless endangering is a misdemeanor with up to a year in jail.