Assault suspect commits suicide

A man who was wanted by Kalispell police was cornered Thursday in a Hamilton convenience store, where police said he killed himself with a handgun.

Travis Dean Smith, 33, was found dead in a bathroom stall with an apparent gunshot wound to the head at about 3:30 a.m. Friday. Smith was considered extremely dangerous and was wanted by Kalispell police on assault and embezzlement charges involving his girlfriend.

Smith reportedly beat her and held a knife to her throat, coercing her to embezzle a large sum of money from her employer. He was last seen in the Flathead Valley last weekend, but was thought to have left the area this week, said Lt. Roger Nasset of the Kalispell Police Department.

At about 8 p.m. Thursday, Ravalli County sheriffs deputies and Hamilton police were following a lead that Smith might be in Hamilton when they approached the Town Pump store on U.S. 93, said Hamilton police Chief Allan Auch.

When the officers started to approach the store, they saw a man who appeared to be leaving abruptly turn around, going back into the stores bathroom area. Soon after, store employees told the officers that the man had just brandished a pistol in the store.

The store and an adjoining casino were cleared of patrons and employees, and police established a perimeter around the area with the help of the Montana Highway Patrol and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

We notified the Missoula SWAT team to come down because we figured we were going to have a long situation there, Auch said.

But police never did see or hear from Smith again, despite efforts to contact him by calling the store phone.

He was never observed after that officer saw him go back into that bathroom, Auch said.

At about 2:30 a.m., the Missoula SWAT team sent a remote-control robot, fitted with camera gear, into the store.

They went into the bathroom with it and he was found inside one of the stalls, Auch said.

A coroner declared Smith dead at about 3:30 a.m. It appeared that he had a wound to the head and there was a .38-caliber handgun in the stall with him, Auch said. Police also recovered a single shell casing from the floor and a bullet from a wall.

Auch said there was no sign of the distinctive vehicle that Smith was reported to be using a blue 2004 Dodge pickup with custom wheels and the words Hardcore Syndicate displayed on the back window.

But police do know how Smith got to Hamilton. He was hitchhiking south of Hamilton, Auch said, and a person who picked him up told police that Smith acted strange and said that he was carrying a firearm.

He was dropped off right in front of the Town Pump, Auch said.

Nasset said Smith faced a series of felony charges: two counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of partner assault, a charge of solicitation of theft and a theft charge. Smith was a designated violent offender, and he also was wanted in Helena, where he allegedly violated release conditions related to a prior aggravated assault charge.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.