The man shot and killed by law enforcement Sunday in Mineral County has been identified as Richard C. Smith of Missoula, the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.
Police say Smith, 68, was suspected of involvement in a stabbing and had potentially taken a hostage when law enforcement entered the Fish Creek Road area in search of him. He emerged from a “heavily wooded area,” according to Mineral County Sheriff Ryan Funke, with a hostage and a weapon.
After refusing to heed officers’ commands, he was shot, Funke said. In an interview Monday, he declined to specify what weapon Smith was allegedly holding.
He was pronounced dead at the scene after lifesaving measures were attempted, according to Funke. Smith’s body was sent to the Montana State Crime Lab for an autopsy. The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation is the lead agency investigating the incident. Once complete, the findings will be turned over to the county to conduct a coroner’s inquest.
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Smith did not appear to have a criminal history in Missoula or Mineral counties prior to the incident.
Funke has not released the names of the officers involved in the shooting.
In Montana, coroner’s inquests are required anytime a person is killed by law enforcement or if they die in custody, except for incidents outside the state’s jurisdiction. In part, they are used to determine whether officers were justified in their lethal actions.
No decision has been made about whether the Missoula County Sheriff, who also serves as the county coroner, will preside over the proceeding in neighboring Mineral County, according to a sheriff spokesperson.
