GREAT FALLS – Two people are dead after a day-long incident that started with a possible shooting in Kevin and ended in a standoff in Shelby.
According to the Toole County Sheriff’s Office, authorities received a call from a female Monday morning who reported a possible shooting in Kevin.
When deputies responded, they found a man dead at a Kevin residence.
Further investigation showed that a man had taken a female at gunpoint from the Kevin home to his residence in Shelby.
The suspect barricaded himself and the female hostage inside the home and Toole County deputies blocked off the area, which was near Marias Medical Center.
Several law enforcement agencies were called in to assist including the Great Falls Police Department’s High Risk Unit and a Conrad Police Department negotiator.
Officials communicated with the people inside the residence and the suspect eventually released the female hostage. Negotiations with the suspect continued.
The Toole County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect then opened fire on officers from inside the home and officers “engaged in an exchange of gunfire.”
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
At the request of Toole County Sheriff Donna Whitt, the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation will investigate the shooting.
Officials do not believe the public is in danger.
The names of those involved have not yet been released.
Responding law enforcement agencies included Toole County Sheriff’s Office, Toole County Search and Rescue, Toole County Ambulance, Great Falls Police Department, Conrad Police Department, FBI, Border Patrol, and Montana Highway Patrol among others.
