Navajo Times
Wednesday, July 15, 2026

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Man fatally shot by park ranger in Canyon de Chelly

CHINLE

Navajo Times | Cindy Yurth
Antelope House ruin in Canyon de Chelly basks in fall sunlight in this recent photo. The national monument was the scene of an officer-involved shooting last Friday.

A Chinle man was shot to death by a National Park Service ranger on the White House Trail in Canyon de Chelly Friday afternoon, an NPS spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.

Family members of the deceased identified him as Venson Kee Yazzie, 44, a son of Louise Thomas and Raymond Yazzie.

The Park Service was not releasing details of the incident as of Tuesday morning.

“A lot of the information is still kind of developing right now,” said Vanessa Lacayo of the Park Service’s Intermountain Regional Communications Office in Colorado.

Lacayo said the NPS will not release the ranger’s name until after the investigation is complete.

She said the case has been turned over to the FBI for investigation.

An FBI spokesman in Albuquerque said Monday he did not have confirmed details on the case to share with media.

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About The Author

Cindy Yurth

Cindy Yurth was the Tséyi' Bureau reporter, covering the Central Agency of the Navajo Nation, until her retirement on May 31, 2021. Her other beats included agriculture and Arizona state politics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in technical journalism from Colorado State University with a cognate in geology. She has been in the news business since 1980 and with the Navajo Times since 2005, and is the author of “Exploring the Navajo Nation Chapter by Chapter.”

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