The Great Falls Police Department is continuing to investigate the shooting threat at the Farmers’ Market that happened on Saturday, July 15, 2023.
John Derek Manning Holtz is facing several felony charges after he reportedly threatened to begin shooting from a fifth-floor balcony at the adjacent Park Manor building during the market event. Hundreds of people evacuated the area, and the GFPD eventually got a warrant to enter Holtz's apartment take him into custody. No firearms were found in his apartment.
Sergeant Kevin Supalla of the GFPD said, “I was only able to speak to probably three or four people and there were hundreds and hundreds of people there, so we really have no idea how many people were affected by the call, so we’re just reaching out trying to see if anyone heard what happened with the disturbance or if they actually saw the individual on the balcony.I know some of our officers were able to talk to six or seven people that had actually called 911 but obviously not everyone called, so we’re just looking for help in identifying some potential victims of what had happened.
Supalla explained that witnesses are a big help in getting to the bottom of things.
“Everyone has a different perspective of where they were standing. Some of the people we talked to were directly under the balcony, some of them were vendors that were in that area. Everybody who was a victim, we would like to know because they’re a victim, we’re working for them at this point. Some people are hesitant to come forward because they think, ‘Oh, they got it taken care of,’ or as we were shooing people out of the area, some people left so we never got an opportunity to talk to them. We like working for our victims and want to make sure they get justice, so we’re just trying to figure out who they are, what they heard, or what they saw.”
The GFPD is asking anyone who was directly affected by the incident to get in touch as officers continue their investigation - you can call and leave a message with your name and phone number at 406-455-8523, or send a private message to the GFPD Facebook page.
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