Armed standoff ends peacefully

The Daily Inter Lake

Suspect charged with kidnapping

A three-hour standoff that began Thursday evening with an alleged kidnapping on Ashley Drive ended peacefully at a Howard Drive home in Kalispell.

Zachary Torres, 29, surrendered around 11 p.m. and was arrested and charged with kidnapping his wife and assaulting a police officer because he shot at officers during the standoff.

Both the city and county SWAT teams were at the scene, along with the Kalispell's Ballistic Engineered Armored Response vehicle. No one was injured.

The incident began shortly before 8 p.m. at the Ashley Drive home of one of Torres' wife's friends, Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset said. A caller said the suspect broke into the home, kidnapped his wife and drove away.

"There's a domestic history with the two of them that escalated," Nasset said.

Officers then responded to the Howard Drive home, owned by Torres' mother. Deputies heard screaming back and forth between a man and woman and a single gunshot, Nasset said.

Another man inside the home safely exited the house during the standoff. At one point the suspect shot his gun from an upstairs window in the direction of Kalispell police officers, Nasset said.

After officers negotiated the release of the woman, another gunshot was heard inside, but Torres surrendered shortly afterwards.

Both city and county officers responded because the incident began inside Kalispell city limits and ended in county jurisdiction, Nasset said. Three neighbors were evacuated during the standoff.