BOZEMAN — It was an eventful Valentine's Day for folks living off East Story Street in Bozeman.
“Never in a million years would I expect to see something like that. It’s a movie thing, not a local neighborhood thing,” said Jennifer Bilbao.
Early morning on Feb. 14, Bilbao was startled to hear police sirens wailing down the street.
“We were like, oh my gosh, what’s going on,” said Bilbao.
She watched from her window as law enforcement flooded the street, resulting in a standoff.
“We saw cops everywhere and then, they headed into the house,” said Bilbao.
Over 12 suspects were detained. According to the Bozeman Police Department, these people were then questioned about an attempted homicide that took place over the weekend.
Bozeman Police and Gallatin County's Special Response Team responded to the area as they attempted to locate these suspects.
“They brought out the bearcat, and they were using loudspeakers to try and coax them out of the house,” said Bilbao.
Longfellow School was placed on lockdown temporarily but was lifted in the afternoon.
Police say there was no specific threat to the school or students.
As of Wednesday afternoon, law enforcement was still walking in and out of the house, continuing the investigation.
“They had guns drawn—it was kind of a scary situation,” said Bilbao.
But even so, Bilbao says this doesn’t make her wary of her neighborhood.
“I’ll be okay, I’ll be okay,” she said.
On Wednesday afternoon, two men were arrested on attempted deliberate homicide charges and booked in the Gallatin County Detention Center: Antes Felipe Lara Gonzales and Santiago Machado Eche Verri.
We asked Bozeman Police for details about the attempted homicide and were told that “an edged weapon” was used. We will report further details as we get them.
