A Shiprock resident has been charged with federal offenses following an incident involving gunfire during a domestic dispute on the Navajo Nation.
Court documents state that on August 1, 2025, Bryson Chee, 42, who is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, arrived at a residence in Shiprock as a passenger with two others. Chee, reportedly intoxicated and acting erratically, exited the vehicle, retrieved a handgun, pointed it at the other occupants, and fired multiple shots as they tried to leave. A nearby witness and child sought cover while shots were being fired. Investigators later found several spent shell casings and confirmed that bullets struck the victims’ vehicle.
Navajo Nation Police Department officers located Chee soon after the shooting. According to authorities, he did not comply with commands to stop and threw a backpack containing a loaded handgun down an embankment before being taken into custody.
Chee faces charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He will remain in custody pending trial; no date has been set. If convicted, he could receive between 10 years and life in prison.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Philip Russell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced the charges.
The investigation was led by the Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office with support from the Navajo Nation Police Department and Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack E. Burkhead is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
