State investigates police-involved shooting in Cut Bank | News from Great Falls

The Montana Police Department said it is investigating a shooting in Cut Bank that occurred in the parking lot of a bar early Saturday and left one person in critical condition and a police officer injured.

A Cut Bank police officer noticed a troublemaker on the street outside another bar around 1:20 a.m., but when he was approached, the man fled to a parked vehicle in the parking lot of the Pioneer Bar at 13 N. Central Ave., state officials said in a news release.

When asked to get out of the car, the 42-year-old suspect ran over the officer, who fired at the man with his service weapon, authorities said.

The suspect was struck by gunfire and is in critical condition, authorities said. The officer was injured and received medical treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.

The officer has been placed on leave pending the investigation. The identities of the officer and suspect are not being released at this time, officials said.

Cut Bank police officials said they had requested the DCI to investigate the incident in the interest of transparency.

Once the investigation is complete, the results will be presented to the Glacier County District Attorney for consideration of appropriate charges, they said.

Cut Bank Police Chief Mike Schultz said in a press release that he was “extremely grateful” that the officer survived the incident.

“This incident happened quickly and could have had fatal consequences for a valued public servant and his family,” he said.

DCI Administrator Bryan Lockerby said he was pleased the officer survived the incident, but noted it could have been worse.

“Any critical incident investigation involving police officers takes a significant amount of time as our agents are always attentive, focused and thorough in processing the crime scene and conducting subsequent interviews, ballistics and toxicology tests,” he said in the press release.

Deputy Editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.