BELGRADE — A Belgrade neighborhood is shaken after an officer-involved shooting Monday evening left one person dead and an officer injured.
Freddie Weisbrod, who recently moved from Seattle, says he looked out his window around 5:18 p.m. and saw flashing lights followed by the sound of gunfire.
“There is no way I moved out here to a nice quiet place and then this happens like a month in,” Weisbrod said.
What we know about the officer-involved shooting that shook a quiet Belgrade neighborhood Monday evening
The Montana Department of Justice and the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the shooting on Crockett Way.
“Officers with the Belgrade Police Department responded to a report of a disturbance on Crockett Way within the city limits of Belgrade,” said Belgrade Police Chief Dustin Lensing during a press conference Tuesday.
“During the response, one of our officers who was seated in his patrol car came under heavy gunfire from the suspect. The officer was struck and injured,” Lensing said.
An assisting Belgrade police officer returned fire, and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
The injured officer was taken to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital and later released after receiving medical care.
Neighbors say it was a tense and frightening night.
“The first thing they came up and asked, ‘Are we alright?’ ‘Did anything hit the house?’ And I’m like, is the officer good because I saw he got shot,” Weisbrod said.
Lensing added that no one else was hurt during the incident.
“We are extremely grateful that the officer is recovering and that no members of the immediate public were harmed during the incident,” he said.
While investigators work to piece together what led up to the shooting, residents like Weisbrod say the violence has shaken their sense of safety.
“Kind of makes you second-guess yourself, like do I need to carry around my own personal firearm just walking around my own neighborhoods,” Weisbrod said.
Lensing said no names or further details will be released at this time as the investigation is underway by the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.
“We will not be fielding any questions at this time, and I thank you all for attending,” Lensing said.
