Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton has announced that the barricaded subject situation came to a close at approximately 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday May 5th. Despite on-going efforts to negotiate, the suspect ultimately stopped communicating with negotiators. Missoula and Flathead County Special Response Teams responded to Corvallis to assist. Distraction devices and mechanical means were deployed in an attempt to re-establish contact with the suspect. After several attempts to call into the home and call the suspect out using PA systems, a robot was deployed into the home and located the suspect deceased of an apparent suicide by gunshot. Unfortunately, it appears the suspect also shot and killed his dog.
Granite County Sheriff/Coroner Scott Dunkerson and the Hamilton Police Department are investigating the circumstances of the death. Evacuated residents of the neighborhood returned to their homes late Wednesday night.
Sheriff Holton thanked the Ravalli County Sheriff’s personnel that worked tirelessly for nearly 58 hours to convince the subject to surrender peacefully, as well as Missoula County Sheriff Terry McDermott and Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino and their Deputies for their assistance.
The Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office expressed their most sincere condolences to the suspect’s family and friends for their loss. The subject’s name is not being immediately released out of respect for the family and to allow them to make notifications to their extended family.