Sad Day on the Range

Tuesday, January 20th 2009

Updated 5 p.m. Tuesday
Police Chief Lynn Erickson and County Sheriff Glen Meier today released details of the ongoing investigation into the January 17 shooting at Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital.

According to Chief Erickson, a male suspect shot Melissa Greenhagen, who died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. Erickson noted that, contrary to reports in the media, Greenhagen was not shot in the back. Autopsies of the suspect and victim have been completed in Billings, and the suspect’s fingerprints were submitted to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) from which a positive identification has been made. Law enforcement is currently attempting to locate the suspect’s family to notify them of his death. The suspect’s identity will not be released until his family is notified.

Because the suspect died of gunshot wounds, the weapons and additional evidence from the crime scene will be submitted to the state crime laboratory in Missoula for testing. Until that testing is complete, it is not possible to know the exact circumstances of the suspect’s injuries or death.

Chief Erickson also expressed concern that recent reports in the Great Falls Tribune and the Associated Press stated that 35-40 officers from a wide range of local, state and federal agencies were on the scene, about 50 yards from the hospital’s emergency room exit. While the exact details of the situation at the hospital are still being determined, Erickson said that there were far fewer officers at the hospital.

"We had a tremendous response from all branches of law enforcement to our call for assistance in the search for the suspect, but to place all the officers who helped with the search at the crime scene is simply not accurate," Erickson said.

Investigators from the Montana Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation, are assisting at the scene and interviewing witnesses and officers. Law enforcement today also requested the assistance of the U.S. Border Patrol/Homeland Security in taking aerial photographs of the crime scene.

"Community support for the victim’s family and for the many law enforcement officers working around the clock has been outstanding. We appreciate the support," Sheriff Meier said. "We also appreciate people’s patience and understanding while we conduct our investigation. We cannot release more details when we don’t have all the facts yet. Until all the evidence is in, a lot of the information that’s circulating is pure speculation."

In response to questions after the statement was released, the following information was given:

The shooter’s identity was not confirmed until about noon today (Tuesday).

Greenhagen, 37, was the clerk of district court and a new EMT.

Two officers were placed on administrative leave, one from the Glasgow Police Department and one from the Valley County Sheriff’s Office. This is considered standard procedure after a shooting. Following the outcome of the autopsy of the shooter, the sheriff’s deputy was released from administrative leave.

The two other people who were shot at the scene are, Scott and Suzanne Billingsley. She is a nurse at FMDH. Scott was treated and released from the hospital. Suzanne remains in the hospital.

The suspect did have a dog with him, a rusty-orange shaggy animal, which is currently in custody.

Chief Erickson hopes to be able to release the shooter’s name tomorrow. He has scheduled a tentative release time of 2 p.m.
 

*The only one the cops got to arrest was the dog!