GREAT FALLS — A Great Falls man who lives near the house where a person was killed and another was kidnapped shared with MTN what he saw early Thursday.
FAST FACTS
- One person dead, another taken hostage
- 3000 block of 6th Street NE in Great Falls
- Officers chased suspect to Flathead County
- Suspect shot dead by an officer
- Hostage is safe
- Names not released yet
"I heard two loud bangs," said the man, who did not want to be identified. His house on Thursday afternoon was still partially blocked off by crime scene tape.
He thought it was car doors slamming, but said his wife, who was waking him up at the time, insisted they were gunshots. "We opened up the windows and I saw a guy running by my vehicle so I thought, one, he's breaking into my vehicle. Then, I looked out the window (my wife) opened and I could see a body laying in the street."
Police said the suspect then took another person hostage and drove out of the area, leading to an hours-long chase that ended near West Glacier. The suspect was shot dead by a law enforcement officer, and the hostage was recovered safely
The man said, "After I went through and made sure there's nobody else in my house or another suspect or whatever, I came back to the original window to check on the wife to make sure she was still doing alright. As I looked out the window I saw him getting into a vehicle, he had a female with him. He put her in the back seat and just took off up the hill."
The homeowner said he then went to see what was going on down the street: "I went around to see if I could provide any first aid, CPR, and there was already a group of people preforming it."
On Thursday morning, Marlene Bauer said she had no idea what was going on until she came outside to water her flowers, but said her husband believes he had heard the gunshots. We have seen reports of other people in the Riverview and Skyview neighborhoods hearing gunshots.
As of Thursday afternoon, the names of the victim and suspect have not been released.
Highway 2, which was closed for several hours as officers investigated, re-opened at about 2 p.m. on Thursday.
