Knife-Wielding Teen Alarms Family at Local Campground

YORK, MT – A teenage man wielding a knife was sighted at the Vigilante Campground in the late morning last Sunday, report day-use picnickers who witnessed the situation.

The young man possessed a sharp-bladed utility or “pocket” knife, and was seen moving around in one of the 25 campsites in the isolated campground near Trout Creek, 15 minutes east of York, Montana.

“We weren’t sure how to handle it,” said local resident Barbara Knoff, who had brought her family for a picnic near the creek on the sunny Sunday morning. “He appeared dishevelled and was going into the brush, picking up small sticks and twigs. The whole time he was brandishing a knife. We were afraid to approach him and there is no phone service to call the sheriff up there.”

The young man appeared to be sleeping in a small tent next to a dusty, early 2000s Chevy Silverado. Mental illness is common in the homeless population and added danger to an already unpredictable situation.

Barbara quickly gathered her family and fled the area, leaving vulnerable hikers and campers to fend for themselves.

Follow up reporting by The Continental Observer yielded no additional witnesses or further details. The suspect appeared to have moved on as no person or truck matching the description were found by Sunday night.

Local authorities did not respond to our request for comment.