Witness Describes Details in Flathead Shootout
On September 16, 2021, at 1052 hours the Kalispell Police Department, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Department and Montana Highway Patrol responded to a call of shots fired in the parking lot of 1305 Hwy 2 W in Kalispell. The initial call stated 2 men were shooting at each other. Officers arrived to find three people with gunshot wounds with one male deceased.
Officers discovered a male had been asked to leave the parking lot by employees of the business. An argument ensued and the male opened fire on one of the employees, killing him. A bystander reportedly grabbed a gun from his vehicle and engaged the suspect male, disabling him. The bystander received a gunshot wound during the exchange.
The suspect male and the bystander were both transported to Logan Health for medical treatment by the Kalispell Fire Dept. The bystander is reportedly in stable condition. The suspect male is reportedly in critical condition and remains under law enforcement supervision. The deceased male has been identified as a 28-year-old Kalispell resident. His name is not being released at this time.
According to Fuel Fitness and Nutrition assistant manager Matt Underhill, he and manager Matthew Hurley confronted a man in the gym’s parking lot who had been living in his vehicle at the gym for several weeks. They refunded the man’s unused gym membership and told him he needed to leave. The man demanded more money from the gym, and when told they could not offer him more, he responded that they were going to die and pulled out a gun.
Underhill said he immediately ran back to the gym and heard several gunshots around him. He said Hurley fell to the pavement after the first gunshot.
A one month membership at Fuel Fitness and Nutrition in Kalispell begins at $50 with no extra fees.
