Inquest finds Montana cop was justified in shooting

Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. - A coroner's jury found a Lewis and Clark County sheriff's deputy was justified in fatally shooting an arson suspect who pointed a gun at him during a welfare check.

A nine-member jury heard testimony Tuesday about Deputy Matthew Reighard's shooting of Douglas Harper, 62, at a residence north of East Helena on May 29 and determined the shooting was not criminal.

Reighard responded to a call for a welfare check on Harper. Family members were concerned about his mental health and that he may be suicidal.

Reighard said when he arrived, Harper was sitting in a sport utility vehicle with a semi-automatic handgun on the passenger seat. Reighard testified that Harper picked up the gun, raised it in his direction and didn't follow repeated orders to put it down.

Reighard fired six shots into the SUV, killing Harper. He said his use of force was prompted by "the immediate threat and danger I was in from possibly being shot."

The investigation found Harper's handgun had five rounds in the magazine but none in the firing chamber.

Butch Huseby, an agent with the Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, testified that finding indicated Harper was trying to get an officer to kill him.

Shawna LaRae Treib, whose father is Harper's cousin, testified that when Harper arrived at her parents' house for Memorial Day weekend, "He was extremely agitated, scared and I just knew something bad was going on with him."

She said he was saying things like: "I didn't do anything wrong, it was nothing I did, I didn't mean for it to happen."

Treib said she believed he was referring to a May 3 fire at his girlfriend's house near Roundup. Harper was a person of interest in the fire, according to the Musselshell County sheriff's office.