Prosecutors: Lakeside shooting was random

The suspect in a Lakeside shooting last month had no connection to the victim and recently arrived in the Flathead Valley with his weapon from Alaska, prosecutors said Thursday.

Luke Elliot Rutledge, 26, faces counts of felony attempted deliberate homicide and criminal endangerment in Flathead County District Court for his alleged role in the Nov. 24 shooting. He pleaded not guilty at his Dec. 7 arraignment before Judge Dan Wilson. 

Rutledge is accused of approaching a vehicle parked in front of a combination gas station, convenience store, casino and bar on U.S. 93 in Lakeside and yelling at the man behind the wheel before opening fire, according to court documents. The victim fled into a nearby bar without injury, court documents said. 

Patrons of that establishment exited to find Rutledge allegedly in the victim’s pickup truck. They subdued him until Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, court documents said. 

A bespectacled Rutledge, his long blonde hair tied up in a bun atop his head, answered in short sentences as Wilson presided over the arraignment

“I do, your honor,” he said after Wilson asked him if he understood the charges against him.

Rutledge’s defense attorney, William Managhan, sought to see bail reduced from $200,000 to $40,000 with a condition for electronic monitoring following the 26-year-old’s arraignment. 

“Hopefully this will satisfy any concern that he will show up to court and for public safety,” Managhan said of a global positioning system device requirement for Rutledge’s release.

If released, Rutledge planned to live with friends in Lakeside, he told Wilson. 

Deputy County Attorney John Donovan opposed any change in bail, citing the apparent randomness of the alleged shooting. He called the lack of a preceding event or connection between the victim and Rutledge as “very concerning for the state.”

“[There was] no provocation, no preexisting relationship … just a terrifying act,” he said. 

While Managhan told the court that Rutledge had previously lived in Flathead County, Donovan said that Rutledge flew from Alaska to Montana with a gun before the alleged attack. 

Although Flathead County Justice Court documents provided a local address for Rutledge and a search of his criminal records showed a 2020 misdemeanor sexual assault conviction in Flathead County, Donovan said that he had no ties to the community. 

Donovan also told the court that at least one round had been extricated from the bar where the victim sought shelter, meaning that Rutledge fired at an occupied building.

Managhan, though, hinted at a possible connection between the victim and Rutledge, but argued that attempted deliberate homicide differed vastly from murder. 

“This is not a homicide,” he said. “No one died.”

Wilson denied the bond reduction request, saying the allegations in the charging documents “defies almost any human explanation.”

Wilson cited the lack of known connection between Rutledge and the victim, and said that the 26-year-old’s limited criminal history served to undergird the alarming nature of the allegations in the case in his denial. 

“It’s not a casual event, it’s not a casual allegation,” Wilson said. “It’s a very serious allegation.”

Wilson set an omnibus hearing in Rutledge’s case for April 17 with a pretrial conference to follow on June 4. If the case were to go to trial, it would fall into the July 22 jury term. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.