BUTTE – An armed man making strange statements fired several shots in a Butte office building before jumping out a window on Thursday.
The incident occurred in an office building in Uptown Butte when a gunman fired several shots in the building and then jumped out of a second story window.
The incident began about 4:30 p.m. when a man armed with a 9mm handgun entered the Butte Police Department lobby on North Alaska Street claiming he was in danger.
He then left the lobby of the police department, walked across the street to and entered the Synesis7 office building. Police followed him and began evacuating the employees.
“And the officers continued to evacuate — and the people evacuated themselves — because he made a bizarre comment. I’m not sure exactly what he said, but he did indicate he would shoot anybody who wasn’t wearing a badge,” Butte Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester told MTN News.
The employees were able to escape the building unharmed — and that’s when the gunman started firing through a second story window.
“He fired somewhere between four or five rounds from 9mm handgun through a window from the office building on the second floor,” Sheriff Lester said.
“The building across the street sustained a gunshot to one of the windows and then he jumped out the window causing injury to himself and was taken into custody right outside the window,” he added.
The man was taken to St. James HealthCare in Butte with what were described as extreme injuries to his lower body.
Investigators are still not sure what caused this violent outburst but say the man was acting very erratically.
“He said he needed some help and indicated somebody was after him. We don’t know whether he was having some mental situation or was under the influence of methamphetamine or some other narcotic,” Sheriff Lester said.
Authorities are still trying to determine what sparked the violent incident.
Police have only identified the suspected gunman as a 28-year-old man from Butte. Sheriff Lester also said that law enforcement did not fire any shots during this incident.
-John Emeigh reporting for MTN News
