BILLINGS – A man was wounded and taken into custody exchanging gunfire with police and holing up for two hours in an east Billings resident Tuesday evening.
The man, who was not identified, fired shots at two Montana Department of Corrections parole officers who knocked on his door on the 1600 block of Second Avenue North just after 4:30 p.m.
The officers returned fire, but neither were injured, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said. The suspect barricaded himself inside the single-family home as law enforcement from the city, county and state arrived at the scene.
Police called in a hostage negotiator and spoke to the man with a bullhorn.
Just before 7 p.m., they fired bean bags to disable cameras around the house. They used the Bear armored vehicle to tear down the front door and enter the residence, where they discovered the man on the ground with an assault rifle near him.
Officers ordered him to put his hands up and fired at least two more bean bag rounds into him and a flash diversionary device to disorient him, St. John said. Once he was contained, police searched the rest of the house and found no one there, he said.
He was taken to a local hospital for treatment of his wound to the abdomen. St. John said the man was known to police and was in his 60s.
An investigation will be turned over to the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, St. John said.
St. John praised the officers involved for ending the standoff without a fatality.
“What a fantastic job that everyone did,” he said.
BILLINGS – A man fired shots at law enforcement officers on the 1600 block of Second Avenue North on Tuesday and is now armed and barricaded inside a building.
The incident began just after 4:30 p.m. when police and parole officers knocked on the door and were met with gunfire, according to Billings Police Chief Rich St. John.
Officers returned fire, and none were injured, St. John said.
Police have blocked off 15th to 18th streets at Second Avenue North.
St. John said he believes one man is holed up inside, possibly armed with an assault rifle.
The “Bear” vehicle, which is shared between Billings police and the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office, is on the scene, and so is the SWAT Team.
We will update you when we get more information.
Reporting by Samantha Harrelson for MTN News
