Two dead in Arlee after standoff
Saturday night’s police standoff occurred outside this camper trailer off of Dumontier Road. Photo by Erin Scott
Erin Scott, Leader Advertiser
A police standoff occurred Saturday night, involving the death of a man and woman north of downtown Arlee, according to Lake County Sheriff Lucky Larson.
Neighbor Carla Fleury said Dusty Reed called Janeal Morris's mother after killing Morris, then proceeded to call his neighbor.
"He was angry and had been drinking," Fleury said of Reed. Fleury lives one house away from the scene of the crime. She said she heard the first gunshot at around 6 p.m.
According to Larson, the sheriff's office received several calls about the homicidal Reed at approximately 6:13 p.m. and officers arrived at the scene at 6:32 p.m.
As officers were talking to witnesses ,several gunshots were heard coming from the camper trailer approximately 200 yards away, and soon after a Flathead Tribal Police Officer's protective vest was shot, according to the Larson.
Fleury said someone's hand was bleeding and the window to their car was shattered by the shots.
The neighbors had Reed called were told to join Fleury in her home and turn the lights off. They were taken to the local fire department in an armored car about three hours later, according to Fleury. She said Dumontier Road was lined with law enforcement vehicles.
Lake County and Missoula County SRT and an EOD robot team, Missoula City Police, Tribal Law and Order, three members of the Kalispell Police SRT and their Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Vehicle were involved in the standoff, according to Larson. Officers from the St. Ignatius Police Department, Northwest Drug Task Force, Arlee fire/ambulance, Office of Emergency Services and Tribal Fish and Game officers were also on the scene to assist, according to Larson.
Fleury said she returned home at around 3 a.m.
Entry was made into the camper trailer at 2:40 a.m., according to Larson, where Reed's and Morris's deceased bodies were found.
The bodies were transported to the State Pathologist Office in Missoula for examination, and the Division of Criminal Investigations was contacted to investigate, according to Larson.
Fleury has lived on Dumontier Road for the past ten years, and said she always thought the area was safe. She didn't know Reed or Morris, but after this incident she said she has been locking her, often unlocked, doors.
"This is a very quiet neighborhood and appears to be safe," she said. "It's not as safe as I thought it was. Things can appear to be one way, but turn out to be another."