UPDATE - new details - CLICK HERE
(UPDATE, 4:15 p.m.) The GFPD confirmed that officers were involved in a "volatile and lengthy" incident that ran from Great Falls south into Lewis & Clark County, and then back into Cascade County, where it ultimately terminated in Simms.
There were no reported injuries and one suspect has been taken into custody. The name of the suspect has not yet been released.
Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter and Great Falls Police Chief Jeff Newton plan to conduct a news conference at 6 p.m. to provide details about today's incident. We will keep you updated.
(UPDATE, 3:35 p.m.) Montana Highway 200 is currently blocked at mile marker 128 in Simms due to a crash.
Drivers are being detoured just before Simms, and there are several fire trucks, law enforcement vehicles, and a SWAT vehicle at and near the crash site.
Initial reports indicate that the vehicle being chased by law enforcement crashed at that location, but that has not yet been confirmed by the Sheriff's Office, MHP, or GFPD.
In addition, one of the roads into the town of Cascade from I-15 is currently blocked off with police tape; we do not yet know the reason.
There is no word at this point on whether anyone in the vehicle was injured. We will update you as we get more information.
(UPDATE, 2:44 p.m.) The GFPD says the incident has come to an end, and all schools are resuming their normal protocols.
We have received unconfirmed reports that at least one person is in police custody.
At this point, there is no word on what triggered the situation. We will keep you updated as we get details.
(1st REPORT, 2:28 p.m.) The Great Falls Police Department said in a news release: "Multiple agencies are currently involved in a serious incident and in pursuit of a vehicle. The incident is occurring both south and west of great falls. Please have people stay out of the way of emergency personnel."
The GFPD said on Facebook: "We are responding to a serious and active incident, happening west of Great Falls, and involving several agencies. As a precaution, all Great Falls Public Schools and Great Falls' private schools are in a shelter-in-place status for the time being."
Cascade Public School said it is under shelter-in-place procedures due to an "external event that happened out of town."
The message from Cascade school states: "All students and staff are safe and secure in the school and the Sheriff's department will notify us with more information when it arises."
A person who lives near several miles south of Cascade told MTN News that just before she learned of the shelter-in-place, at least nine law enforcement vehicles were speeding south on I-15.
We will update you as we get more information.
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