Three face felony charges in shootings

Kalispell Police have leveled felony charges against two teenagers and a 22-year-old man allegedly involved in drive-by shootings with Airsoft guns early Sunday morning in Kalispell.

Shortly after midnight Saturday, officers responded to a report of a drive-by shooting on the 400 block of South Main.

The suspects fired at a group of people gathered on the sidewalk with what was later determined to be Airsoft pistols that shoot small plastic pellets. As many as seven people, including a pregnant woman, were struck by pellets.

As officers were responding to that call, there was a second 911 report involving a man who was shot while carrying groceries out of the Smith’s grocery store on Third Avenue East. The man chased the suspects and relayed their direction of travel.

They soon were apprehended by police without incident.

The victims in both incidents said they initially believed the guns being pointed at them were real and it was only after being shot that they realized the guns were not firearms.

Arrested were Nicholas A. Licht, 22, and two juvenile males whose names were not released.

All three have been charged with assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment, both felonies. They have been jailed pending initial appearances in Flathead County Justice Court.