Marion shooter shot-correction

A 56-year-old Marion man was starting to point a hand gun in the direction of law officers when a Flathead County sheriff's deputy shot and killed him Saturday afternoon, an official said.

A story in Sunday's Daily Inter Lake indicated the man had a rifle which he put down before he walked toward deputies.

In fact, the deputies' report indicated, he no longer had the rifle in his possession at that time.

The man, whose identity is expected to be released this morning, had gone back into the house and switched the rifle for the hand gun, according to Undersheriff Chuck Curry. He reportedly emerged with the hand gun in his right hand at his side and came toward the officers.

When officers saw the gun in his hand, a sergeant asked him to lay it down on the ground, Curry said. He complied, but then bent down, picked it up again and extended his arm, starting to point the gun toward the officers, Curry said.

That's when he was fatally shot, Curry said.

The deputy who fired the shot has been placed on administrative leave while Kalispell police investigate the shooting.

According to the sheriff's report, dispatch had received a 911 call about 2:20 p.m. Saturday reporting a family disturbance in Marion.

Two deputies responded. They were met by the man, who came out of the house onto the porch with a rifle in his hand, Curry said.

According to the sheriff's report, the man appeared very upset and the woman he had been threatening was still inside the house.

Curry said that while the two deputies tried to calm the man, the shift sergeant was talking with the man by way of cell phone as the sergeant drove to Marion.

Before he arrived, the deputies escorted the woman outside, unhurt, to the safety of the patrol car.

The suspect fired one round from the hand gun into the ground, Curry said, then went back inside.

Curry said the man did not fire the rifle while deputies were present. The sheriff's report said the man "came in and out of the house, onto the deck several times with a rifle, then switched to a hand gun, firing it into the air."

When the sergeant arrived, Curry said, the man came out of the house with the hand gun, left the porch and started walking toward the officers. It was at that point they spotted the gun and asked him to put it down.

The sergeant, Curry said, held up his empty hands to show he had no firearm in them and convinced the man to disarm himself.

But after the man leaned over and picked the gun back up, Curry said, he extended his arm and started pointing the gun at officers.

He was shot once in the chest, and pronounced dead at the scene.

Sheriff Jim Dupont contacted Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner to ask his department to investigate.

Dupont also requested the Lincoln County coroner, as he is a civilian coroner and not a law enforcement officer. @@2