Billings police officer shoots, kills robbery suspect

BILLINGS (AP) — A Montana police officer shot and killed a man being sought in a recent robbery after the suspect made a sudden movement during a traffic stop, authorities said Tuesday.

Billings Police Chief Rich St. John identified the deceased as Richard David Ramirez, 38, of Billings. No weapon was found on Ramirez. He was shot three times.

A search of the vehicle he was traveling in was planned for Tuesday.

St. John said the officer was placed on administrative leave but declined to release his name citing threats against law enforcement over the shooting.

The officer is a five-year veteran who has previously discharged his weapon in the line of duty, St. John said. No details of that prior incident were released.

Ramirez is the fifth man to be fatally shot by law enforcement in Billings over the past two years.

The officer was looking for Ramirez as a suspect in a robbery in which a 61-year-old man had been shot in the arm Sunday, authorities said. The victim identified Ramirez as the shooter.

About 11 p.m. Monday, the officer was in the area of the robbery when he spotted a car with Ramirez in the back seat and pulled it over in an alley.

After ignoring the officer’s commands to not move and keep his hands in sight, St. John said Ramirez made a “downward reaching movement.”

“This movement resulted in the officer drawing his weapon and firing three rounds, striking Ramirez in the torso,” St. John said.

Ramirez had previous run-ins with law enforcement but no known prior felony charges or other serious infractions, he said.

A coroner’s inquest will be held as required by state law when officers are involved in fatal shootings.

Separately, an inquest is scheduled for Wednesday in a fatal July 5 shooting by a Yellowstone County sheriff’s deputy outside a Billings shopping center.

In that case, Sheriff’s Lt. Shane Skillen shot 42-year-old Dean Randolph Jess three days after he escaped from the state prison in Deer Lodge. Jess was in a stolen vehicle and was shot after he made a move for a gun during a standoff with law enforcement.

Since May 2012, there have been three other fatal shootings involving Billings police officers. In each case a coroner’s jury found the shootings justified.