Helena man charged for Glacier gun incident

A Helena man involved in a July armed standoff in Glacier National Park is scheduled to appear next week in federal magistrate court in West Glacier after he allegedly fired a gun into the air at a busy campground on Lake McDonald.

Jesiah Richards, 27, was charged Thursday with unlawfully discharging a weapon and disorderly conduct.

Visitors to national parks are allowed to carry loaded firearms, but discharging them within the park boundaries is a misdemeanor under federal law except in rare instances.

According to the charging documents, Richards was at Sprague Creek Campground at 9:30 p.m. on July 9 when he fired a single round from his .44 revolver through the roof of his tent. In his report, park ranger Steve Dodd noted that the 22-site campground was full at the time.

“He then proceeded with the revolver still loaded with five rounds and took up a position along the lakeshore of Lake McDonald at the edge of the campground,” the charging document states. “Not until four armed law enforcement rangers confronted him did he eventually give up the firearm and surrender to those rangers.”

Margie Steigerwald, a spokeswoman for Glacier at the time of the incident, told the Daily Inter Lake that following the 30- to 40-minute standoff with park rangers, Richards was transported to the hospital after making possible references to suicide.

Richards is scheduled to appear Aug. 12 in U.S. Magistrate Court in West Glacier.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.