GREAT FALLS - A man is facing several felony charges after he reportedly threatened to begin shooting during the Great Falls Farmers' Market on Saturday, July 15, 2023.
Court documents state that just after 11 a.m., police received numerous reports from Farmers' Market visitors stating that a man was yelling from a fifth-floor balcony of nearby Park Manor.
According to witnesses, the man — later identified as 36-year-old John Derek Manning Holtz — was yelling that he was going to start shooting people.
Vendors and visitors quickly began evacuating the market, and police officers quickly responded to the scene, including the GFPD High-Risk Unit vehicle.
Officers were able to contact Holtz via phone, and he reportedly claimed that he was in Helena.
Officers then obtained a search warrant and gained access to the apartment, where they found Holtz on the floor with his hands above his head.
Holtz was then taken into custody, yelling profanities as he was placed in a patrol car.
Officers then searched his apartment and found two fixed-blade knives and a spent .22-caliber casing, but did not find any firearms.
According to court documents, when questioned by police after being arrested, Holtz claimed that he was actually yelling about his video game.
However, police found no video game consoles or video game controllers in his apartment.
Prosecutors said in court documents that Holtz "caused reasonable apprehension...that he was going to discharge a firearm into a crowd," and that Holtz's speech "is reasonably expected to cause panic and fear which in a large group has a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury."
Holtz has been charged with several counts of assault with a weapon, intimidation, resisting arrest, and criminal endangerment.
Court documents note that Holtz has convictions in Oregon for assault, menacing, and assault with a weapon.
The GFPD is asking anyone who was directly affected by the incident to call 406-455-8523 or send a private message to the GFPD Facebook page.
