Woman shot by deputy back in court

A Columbia Falls woman who was shot by a Flathead County Sheriff’s deputy in October 2013 is scheduled to enter a no-contest plea to misdemeanor negligent endangerment in the case on Thursday.

Michelle Gentry, 57, has completed the terms of a two-year deferred prosecution agreement as of November 2016, according to court documents filed in Flathead District Court.

A plea agreement signed in November 2014 dropped a charge of felony assault on a peace officer that had been filed for allegedly pointing a gun at the deputy who shot her, and responded by firing 15 rounds. Gentry was struck twice.

The plea agreement called for Gentry to enter the no-contest plea to misdemeanor negligent endangerment if she managed to remain law-abiding for two years. A no-contest plea acknowledges that a jury could find a person guilty, but allows a defendant to maintain his or her innocence.

Gentry was shot after a SWAT team had been called to her Eastland Crossing home after negotiators were unable get her to come out of her home. Gentry had been reported as suicidal, and according to a report compiled by the Kalispell Police Department, Gentry had told negotiators earlier that if police came to her home, she would come out and make them shoot her.

Gentry eventually did leave the house, and allegedly aimed a revolver at officers while screaming, “Do it, do it, do it, do it [expletive] now.”

The report did not indicate whether Gentry fired her weapon, only that it appeared she was trying to fire the gun at some point.

A SWAT team member opened fire with his AR-15 rifle, hitting the county’s armored vehicle with the first volley before striking Gentry twice.

The deputy involved was cleared by a shooting review board.

Gentry sued the involved SWAT team members and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office in Montana Federal District Court in April 2015. The case was dismissed in May 2016, with each party having to pay their own legal fees.