A 44-year-old Billings man was shot dead by police after waving a pellet gun and threatening patrons at a casino on Grand Avenue early Tuesday, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said during a press conference this morning.
No one else was injured in the shooting, which occurred at the Lucky Lil's Casino at the corner of Grand Avenue and 15th Street West at about 1:30 a.m. The man's identity is being withheld until his family is notified.
Sgt. Bret Becker, who has served with the Billings Police Department for 11 years, fired the fatal shots. He has been placed on routine administrative leave.
Officers initially responded about 12:45 a.m. to the report of a man with a gun involved in a domestic disturbance at a home several blocks away on Yellowstone Avenue, St. John said. By the time officers arrived, the man had left. His ex-wife told police he had yelled something about going to rob a casino, St. John said.
Police later saw the man in the casino parking lot. An officer ordered him to stop, but the man entered the casino. By the time officers got inside, the man was at the far end of the casino, waiving what appeared to be a handgun, pointing it at patrons and apparently threatening to take hostages, St. John said.
After the man ignored orders to drop the weapon, Becker fired his AR-15 patrol rifle several times, striking the man in the torso, St. John said. The chief said he believed the man was hit by multiple rounds. He dropped the gun, fell down and then appeared to be reaching for something on the floor, St. John said.
Becker then fired and hit him again, St. John said. The man was transported to St. Vincent Healthcare, where he was pronounced dead.
About 40 minutes elapsed from the time officers responded to the initial call to when the man was shot, Police Capt. Kevin Iffland said.
It wasn't immediately clear what the man had been reaching for, St. John said, but noted that the gun was found next to the man's body. It was later determined to be a compressed-air pellet gun. St. John said that Becker believed at the time that it was a lethal firearm.
“[The] sergeant felt people were at risk, and he engaged,” St. John said.
St. John said the man was known to local police, but declined to elaborate beyond stating that his ex-wife had a temporary restraining order against him that had not yet been served.
The incident was the second officer-involved fatal shooting in a span of 15 hours for the Billings Police Department.
Another man was shot dead by police at a downtown apartment building Monday morning. He had been charging officers with a knife when one opened fire on him, Police Chief Rich St. John told reporters at a press conference later in the day.
Investigations into both incidents are being handled separately by BPD. The Montana Department of Justice's Criminal Investigation Department is also providing assistance and oversight, and the results of the police investigation will be forwarded to the state agency, St. John said.
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