GREAT FALLS — The deadly shooting of a fleeing fugitive in Great Falls on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, led some people to wonder how often such shootings happen in Montana.
One person commented on Facebook: "I see more officer related shootings out of great falls montana than any place on earth. What are they teaching these cops?!" Another person commented: "The cops sure are quick to shot ppl around here."
We did some digging and learned that there have been eight deadly shootings by law enforcement officers in Cascade County since 2013.
In comparison, Missoula County also recorded eight such shootings in that time. Yellowstone County - which includes Billings, the most populous city in Montana - had 17 deadly shootings by officers during the same period.
Between January 2013 and September 2022, there have been 62 deadly shootings by law enforcement officers in Montana. More than half of those - 33 - occurred in those three counties.
The information below reflects only the locations and dates of shootings. It does not provide context about the shootings, such as whether any of the suspects had fired weapons at officers, were brandishing guns, were suspects in homicides, etc.
For instance, in May 2017, Marshall Barrus was shot by officers after he killed Broadwater County Sheriff's Deputy Mason Moore, and then led officers on a high-speed chase through several counties.
Most of the data is from the website Mapping Police Violence, which includes shootings through August 9, 2022. Also included is information on more recent incidents from MTN News:
Yellowstone County (17):
Raymond Dupree: February 15, 2022
Michael McClure: April 23, 2021
Cole Stump: October 12, 2020
Kellen Fortune: June 18, 2020
Chance Mavity: January 20, 2019
Shawn Hubbard: April 10, 2018
Zachary Hoven: April 9, 2018
Preston Bell: November 18, 2017
Frank Half Jr: November 4, 2017
Ryan Lowell: May 12, 2017
Kyle Killough: October 27, 2016
John Marshall: January 30, 2015
Richard Ramirez: April 14, 2014
Dean Jess: July 5, 2013
Thomas Hilger: May 24, 2013
Jason Shaw: February 11, 2013
Daniel Brawley: January 6, 2013
Missoula County (8):
Vance Ledeau: August 27, 2022
John Perry II: August 29, 2021
Jesse Brown: November 7, 2020
Frank Cogar: January 15, 2020
Steven Gill: September 2, 2019
Jenessa Cooper: November 18, 2018
Marshall Barrus: May 16, 2017
Kaileb Williams: December 31, 2014
Cascade County (8):
Name not yet released: September 28, 2022
Travis Sipes: March 19, 2022
Ricky Gardipee: December 17, 2019
Jason Niccum: November 25, 2019
Charles Marcotte: August 19, 2018
Stacy Micheletti: December 11, 2017
Thomas Addison:, September 11, 2017
Thomas Pulst: May 8, 2013
All other counties:
Beaverhead County: 2
Big Horn County: 1
Blaine County: 1
Carbon County: 1
Flathead County: 3
Gallatin County: 1
Glacier County: 2
Granite County: 1
Lake County: 1
Lewis & Clark County: 2
Mineral County: 2
Park County: 1
Phillips County: 1
Powell County: 1
Ravalli County: 1
Sanders County: 1
Silver Bow County: 1
Stillwater County: 1
Toole County: 1
The Mapping Police Violence website provides more details about each shooting.
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