Billings Area News

Witness: standoff suspect shot by police while trying to escape

Posted: Jan 6, 2013 3:28 PM by MTN News - Billings
Updated: Jan 6, 2013 3:28 PM

BILLINGS - An eyewitness at the scene of a standoff involving the Billings Police Department says that a suspect was shot by police while trying to escape in a Billings police cruiser on Miles Avenue.

According to the eyewitness - man who lives in the neighborhood - the Billings police had a man in custody when the man ran toward a Billings police cruiser with its door open.

The man then managed to get inside the vehicle, put it in to gear, and start traveling westbound on Miles Avenue.

It is unclear if the man was wearing handcuffs at the time, but he did drive the cruiser into several pickup trucks parked along the road.

The witness says an officer then fired rounds at the suspect.

The car came to a stop and the witness says the suspect slumped over in the car.

The witness says when police approached the suspect, they realized he had been hit and they began efforts to revive him.

An ambulance arrived on scene shortly after, and the suspect was taken to a hospital.

We'll have more information as it becomes available.

(1:17 pm) A standoff is taking place on Miles Avenue in Billings.

The Billings Police Department has blocked off traffic to several blocks north and south of Miles Avenue near its 800 block.

Witnesses say police asked them to leave their homes shortly before 10a.m. on Sunday.

A reporter at the scene says people have been taken out of the home in handcuffs, and police on scene may have fired rounds.

A front end of a police car has been damaged.