At 2am on Tuesday, 3 people were shot and killed in the Emerald City Casino in Great Falls, Montana, leaving another injured. Local police pursued the suspect to a residential area before shooting and killing him.
The Scene of the Crime
The Emerald City Casino company runs a chain of restaurants and bars with gambling machines in Great Falls, Montana, and other locations across the state. Hardly the giant megaresorts of Vegas or Atlantic City, these unassuming, strip mall type establishments are anything but wild.
But when shots rang out early in the morning in Emerald City casino in Great Falls, 3 were left dead and one wounded in a casino shooting.
Great Falls Police Department released a statement saying they arrived on the scene to find 3 dead people at the Emerald City Casino. A fourth person showed up at Benefis hospital for treatment for a gunshot wound. The names of the gunshot victims have not been released at this time. The wounded victim was admitted to the intensive care unit and listed in stable condition.
The casino is located near an elementary school, which was quick to cancel classes for the day following the shooting. Great Falls Public Schools Superintendent Tom Moore praised the immediate response from police.
“The response from the Great Falls Police Department was almost immediate,” Moore said.
The elementary school near the casino also engaged a team of mental health professionals for students and their parents.
Suspect Found and Shot
The investigation into the shooting and the motives of the shooter is ongoing. Currently, the name of the suspect has not been released to the public, and any connections between any of the individuals remains unknown. A citywide manhunt lasting 3 hours ensued. City, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies conducted the search, which ended in a residential area only a mile away from the scene of the murders.
Officers fatally shot the suspect after “engaging law enforcement” on the scene. According to Great Falls Police Lt. Doug Otto, “The entire situation was very dynamic, and the suspect was moving around quite a bit,” Lt. Otto said. “Things unfolded very quickly in a very short period of time.”
Police officials did not specify the details of the engagement with the suspect, and whether he fired his weapon at police. After the murder investigation is complete, a police inquest into the police shooting will be conducted.
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