Homicide suspect killed after chase along US 2
A Montana Highway Patrol vehicle is seen with its lights on in this file photo. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
A homicide and kidnapping suspect led police on a car chase from Great Falls into eastern Flathead County before he was shot and killed by a law enforcement officer early Thursday, authorities said.
U.S. 2 was closed between East Glacier and West Glacier for several hours Thursday morning while police investigated the incidents, according to Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino, but the highway reopened around 1 p.m.
According to the Great Falls Police Department, officers were dispatched around 12:30 a.m. to a domestic disturbance in the 3000 block of Sixth St. N.E. in Great Falls.
When officers arrived, they found one person dead and learned the suspect, a man, had taken a hostage and fled Cascade County, the department said.
The ensuing car chase, which involved several other law enforcement agencies, ended at about 6:20 a.m. in the Cascadilla area of Flathead County — about 175 miles from Great Falls.
Heino said the suspect was shot and killed by a law enforcement officer from another agency that he did not identify, and the kidnapping victim is safe.
Great Falls police are investigating the initial homicide. The Montana Department of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting by the law enforcement officer.
Officials did not say how the victim died or identify any of the people involved.