Ongoing dispute with neighbor culminates in shooting in central Utah

14 Sep 2026, 17:05 by Pat Reavy ksl · KSL.com

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Burkeley Jerald Priest, 53, was arrested for allegedly shooting a man in Scofield.
The incident was the latest in a decade-long dispute.
The victim was shot in the leg and airlifted to a hospital for treatment.

SCOFIELD, Carbon County — One man was shot, and the next-door neighbor was arrested Sunday in what some witnesses say was the latest in an ongoing dispute between cabin owners near Scofield Reservoir that has gone on for years.

Burkeley Jerald Priest, 53, was booked into the Carbon County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault resulting in serious injury.

Police were called at about 3:30 a.m. on Sunday to a possible burglary and shooting at a cabin in Scofield.

"I was told the victim with the gunshot wound to the upper thigh was 'Life-Flighted' to a hospital up north. I was also told the shooter, Burkeley Priest, was in custody. I was also told there had been property/neighbor disputes involving both parties in the past," the arresting officer wrote in a booking affidavit.

Before being flown by medical helicopter to a hospital, the victim made his way to a bathtub in the cabin where he was staying. That's where police found a large amount of blood, the affidavit states. A man who told police he had brought his family to the cabin for the weekend, "said he picked (the victim) up and took him to the truck, to drive to the road to get service to call 911 and meet law enforcement," according to the affidavit. "(He) said he met an officer, who put a tourniquet on the victim to control the bleeding until help arrived. (He) said Priest was always outside with a gun on and had threatened to shoot him approximately one year ago for walking on his property."

Police say Priest's cabin sits on the shore of Scofield Reservoir. The cabin next door has a fire pit about 100 feet away. The shooting is alleged to have occurred at Priest's back door, where a blood trail was found.

Investigators conducted several interviews to determine what happened. Priest, in addition to talking to police, also wrote a note of what he claimed transpired after allegedly shooting the victim, the affidavit states.

Priest stated that the dispute with his neighbor, which includes allegations of trespassing, has been ongoing for a decade. On Saturday night into early Sunday morning, he says the neighbors were having a loud party. Priest claimed someone banged on his door early Sunday morning, and he believed the person at the door was using a weapon to hit his door, according to the affidavit.

"Priest tells dispatch someone is trying to break into his house," officers wrote in the affidavit. "Priest said he did not lift the shades on the glass door to look but unlocked the door, opened it, and saw a male turning away from him. Priest said he was unsure if the male was going for a weapon or going to get his friends, so he pointed down and shot the male in the back of the right leg."

As police investigated the crime scene, however, officers noted that "due to the lack of damage to the door, I was unable to locate any type of object that might have been used on the door. The victim did not have a weapon with him when he was located by law enforcement."

The 21-year-old man who was shot told police this was only the second time he had been to the cabin. Investigators believe at the time he was shot about 3 a.m., everyone else in his group had already gone inside their cabin.

"The victim stated he remembered drinking with his friends by the fire. The victim stated he remembers being shot, but not who had done it. The victim stated the next thing he remembers is being lifted into the truck to get help. I asked the victim if he knew about the issues between the owner of the cabin he was staying at and the neighbor across the street. The victim stated he did not know the neighbor and had only seen him outside a few times but had never interacted with him. The victim stated he had not had any negative interactions with the neighbor. Due to the victim's lack of memory, intoxication, and blood loss, it is likely the victim lost consciousness," police wrote in the affidavit.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Ongoing dispute with neighbor culminates in shooting in central Utah

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