Readers offer help to family of Panguitch shooting victim

OREM — Just hours after readers learned that a mother of nine needed a place to stay so she could be near her wounded husband, the offers to help came pouring in.

"We read in the newspaper of the horrible events for the Armstrong family," wrote reader Carolyn Mower in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "We have a room for her to stay with us if she needs."

That "horrible event" was last Friday when Tracy Armstrong, 45, was shot four times at his lodge in Panguitch by a man he had never met.

"The man approached (Armstrong) at the check-in desk and, completely unprovoked, shot Armstrong once in the neck and twice in the chest with a .38 caliber pistol," said Becki Bronson, public information officer for Garfield County. The other shot was in his shoulder, family members said.

Jasson Hines, 24, is in the Garfield County Jail facing 15 charges in 6th District Court, including attempted murder with injury, attempted murder and attempted kidnapping.

Tracy Armstrong's wife, Lynn, had been worrying about how to stay close to her husband as he spends as long as two months in rehab at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

She had been sleeping at a hospital guest cottage but couldn't extend her stay beyond Sunday.

And finding a house or apartment for two months for her and some of her younger children — the couple has nine, ranging from age from 3 to 22 — seemed impossible until now.

Sister-in-law Kristin Beckstead said she can't even count how many phone calls they've received.

"It's an incredible number, I couldn't even begin to quantify," she said. "It's amazing. I've had so many people call me that my message machine is full. We don't even know where to begin to thank people."

Orem resident Esther Judd said she read about the story in Thursday's Deseret Morning News, showed her husband the article and they both agreed their parents' vacant home would be perfect for the family, should they want to use it.

"You read stories and think 'I'd like to do something,' and there's not much you can do," Judd said. "You just want to do what you can."

Beckstead said when she left the hospital Friday, Lynn Armstrong had several options for housing and hadn't yet made a choice.

Those who want to help the family in other ways can make contributions in Tracy Armstrong's name at any branch of Zions Bank.

He is nearly paralyzed from the armpits down and will need specialized wheelchairs, home remodeling and continued medical care.

Comments and well wishes can also be sent to kbeckstead@gmail.com and Beckstead will pass them on to the Armstrongs. "Tracy said that he is doing as well as he is simply because of all the support from people," Beckstead said. "He's received quite a few cards from people he hasn't heard from in years and even complete strangers."

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E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com