Jack McGlothlin

Mark Hartman

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Five months after a Park County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a Cody man, the sheriff’s office has released the names of the deputy and the deceased.

According to a Wednesday news release from the sheriff’s office, the Aug. 30 incident began when Lt. Mark Hartman spotted Jack E. McGlothlin’s vehicle and attempted to pull him over.

Authorities had been seeking McGlothlin’s arrest for months, after the 37-year-old allegedly trespassed at a Cody day care and illegally surveilled its staff. Charging documents from June describe McGlothlin as having engaged in bizarre behavior that included walking into the Park County Law Enforcement Center in Cody with pistols on each hip and an American flag as a cape.

When Hartman tried to stop him on the afternoon of Aug. 30, McGlothlin reportedly fled from the deputy, driving down a canal road.

“McGlothlin eventually stopped his vehicle and exited with a firearm pointed at Lt. Hartman,” the sheriff’s office said. “After a physical confrontation, shots were fired.”

The office previously said that Hartman was “forced to engage the man with lethal force.”

Hartman was uninjured while McGlothlin died at the scene.

At the time, court records show that McGlothlin was wanted on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing and stalking. They came after staffers at True North Academy — a Christian day care and preschool affiliated with the Cody House of Prayer Evangelical Church — reported two unsettling encounters with McGlothlin.

On the morning of June 7, a True North staffer led a group of children from the day care to the church’s nearby worship center and discovered that McGlothlin had followed them inside.

McGlothlin began asking “a lot of questions about the children,” according to the staffer’s account to Cody police, specifically asking about a safety walking rope the children had used as they crossed the parking lot. The rope included handles for children to hold, to help them stay in a group, but McGlothlin apparently mistook it for some kind of punishment.

The day care staffer told police she asked McGlothlin to leave several times, but he would not.

“The man … kept saying, ‘Answer me this question and I will leave,’” Cody Police Officer Mark Martinez wrote of the staffer’s account. The worker later reported “she was very frightened for her safety by the man’s demeanor and actions.”

McGlothlin eventually left, but returned around 5:20 p.m., taking pictures and video of the day care entrance and building before driving away.

Police were initially unsure about who the man was, but it became clear on June 11, when McGlothlin came to the Park County Law Enforcement Center. Carrying “at least two pistols” on his hips and wearing an American flag, McGlothlin reportedly told police that he believed the day care was abusing children by tying them up with rope.

“McGlothlin was informed the children are fine and the purpose of the safety rope is to ensure their safety,” Martinez wrote, but, “McGlothlin did not accept this explanation and indicated that he would contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Police reported that he became visibly upset and started shaking during the conversation.

The Park County Attorney’s Office obtained a warrant for McGlothlin’s arrest a few days later, on June 16, but he apparently wasn’t located by law enforcement until Hartman spotted his vehicle on the afternoon of Aug. 30. The criminal case was dropped following McGlothlin’s death.

As is standard practice with shootings involving an officer, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation was asked to investigate August’s incident. The sheriff’s office didn’t release the identities of the two men and other details at the time “so as not to compromise the integrity of the investigation,” according to Wednesday’s release, but is doing so now because DCI has completed its work.

DCI’s investigative report was forwarded to Park County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric. However, because Skoric represents the sheriff’s office in his role as county attorney, he’s asked a prosecutor from another part of the state to review it. It’s unclear how long that review might take.

Hartman has served with the sheriff’s office since 2003 and has overseen the patrol division since 2018.