The 8th District courtroom in Vernal was full of uniformed officers on Tuesday, there in support of their fellow officers who read victim impact statements before Judge Beech ahead of the Rookus Rosscol Curry sentencing. Officer Jacob O’Donnal whose vehicle was shot at and Sgt. Chad Watt who was shot at and struck multiple times by Curry, each detailed the immediate and lasting effects of the attack. Both strongly requested the judge run the sentences consecutively. Rookus Curry also spoke and said he was sorry for what occurred. The judge issued a sentence on Count 1, 1st Degree Felony Attempted Aggravated Murder, of 15 years to life in prison; on Count 2, 1st Degree Felony Attempted Aggravated Murder, of 5 years to life in prison; and Count 3, Felony Discharge of a Firearm with Serious Bodily Injury, of 0 to 5 years in prison. During sentencing, Judge Beech stated, “The factual basis underlying the conviction speaks for itself. The short of it is on April 27th, 2024, law enforcement responded after Mr. Curry pulled out a firearm, chambered a round, and pointed it at a neighbor’s head following an argument. When law enforcement arrived, Mr. Curry fired his gun at them. One of the officers was struck several times and as a result of being shot he suffered a variety of injuries after he was hit multiple times by multiple bullets across his body including losing a kidney. What I heard today, he still has a bullet in his back. Another deputy’s marked patrol vehicle was hit with shots fired by Mr. Curry. Mr. Curry fired at 2 separate patrol vehicles and one of those vehicles was occupied by 2 people. Another of the rounds fired by Mr. Curry went through the wall of an occupied bedroom in a trailer. The gravity and circumstances of the offenses are enormous in this matter. They are enormous to the court. This was an attack by Mr. Curry on law enforcement that resulted in substantial bodily injury to an officer. That officer and any of the other responding officers and anyone else in proximity of the event could easily have been killed. And frankly, how no one is dead as a result of Mr. Curry’s conduct, including Mr. Curry himself, is nothing short of a miracle. The events underlying Mr. Curry’s convictions are appalling to the court.” The judge ordered that Curry’s time in the Utah State Prison be served consecutively. A restitution hearing is scheduled for March 25th.
