County sees rash of suicides

The Daily Inter Lake

A 69-year-old Ferndale man committed suicide Saturday morning near Somers.

The man shot himself at about 6 a.m. at the Flathead County Dumpster site on Montana 82, said Deputy Coroner Ernie Freebury of the Flathead County Sheriff's Office. He was found an hour later when a resident arrived to use the facility.

The man died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Investigation conducted by the Flathead County Sheriff's Department and Coroner's Office indicated that the injury was self inflicted.

His name is being withheld pending notification of his family.

It's the fourth suicide in Flathead County in four days. A man died last week in Whitefish and another killed himself Friday in Hungry Horse.

After initially investigating a Kalispell man's death as a homicide, Kalispell police determined he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The 19-year-old man was found at about 1:30 p.m. Friday in a home on the 100 block of Grandview Drive.

Police took statements from family members and close friends and scrutinized the physical evidence left on scene before ruling his death a suicide, Detective Brian Fulford said. The Police Department detectives and major-crime-scene unit handled the investigation, with help from the Flathead County Coroner's Office and the Medical Examiner's Office.