A seven-hour standoff has ended as police officers took a man into custody, without injury to the officers or suspect, Billings police say.
BPD Lt. Matt Lennick says SWAT teams were able to get inside the home on 12th Street West and reach the man in a basement room.
Lennick says the man initially was accepting of officers being there, became resistant, and after a brief skirmish was arrested.
Lennick could not confirm if the man was armed or had a firearm nearby.
The man was transported to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility and emergency personnel are leaving the area.
Meanwhile, investigators were at the scene of a fatal shooting in an alleyway off of 12th Street between Avenue F and Avenue E, connected to the suspect and standoff.
The Billings Police Department issued this press release Monday morning:
This release is regarding information for C&O 23-01645 a homicide investigation from January 8, 2023 in the 1200 block of Avenue F and an assault with a weapon and standoff in the 1200 block of Burlington.
At 6:09 PM hours, Officers responded to the 1200 block of Burlington for reports of a shooting. The male victim of the shooting was transported privately to the hospital. Officers arrived on scene and determined the suspect was still inside the residence and all of the residents had fled the scene. The suspect continued to fire shots from the residence. No one was struck by these shots.
Billings Police patrol was able to secure the area and the residence while BPD Swat, negotiators, bomb squad, and YSCO Swat were activated. In doing this a second crime scene was located at the business lot of 1307 12th Street West was located. Initial investigation of this scene determined the suspect had crashed a vehicle into several parked vehicles and then fled the area on foot, ending up at the residence on Burlington.
Officers then responded to a residence in the 1200 block of Avenue F due to information received from the suspect vehicle involved in the crash. Officers on this scene located a deceased male. The initial investigation on this scene appears the suspect shot the victim and then stole this victim’s vehicle, which was the same vehicle involved in the crash at 1307 12th Street West.
At this time there does not appear to be any connection between any of the victims and the suspect.
Throughout the entirety of the standoff Officers attempted contact with the suspect and received no cooperation.
At approximately 1:00 AM Officers were able to determine what part of the residence the suspect was barricaded in and focused their efforts causing the suspect to begin to cooperate. The suspect was located in the residence and taken into custody without any further injury or shots being fired.
The suspect was transported to the hospital due to injuries sustained in the vehicle crash and is currently being detained there on the suspicion of deliberate homicide, attempted deliberate homicide, and robbery. A suspect identity will be released once official charges have been filed.
