1 killed, 3 shot in spree that critically wounds Montana trooper; suspect in custody

When a second trooper arrived at the scene, he found Palmer still belted into his patrol car; the suspect had fled, said a release from the Highway Patrol.

Three people had been shot an hour earlier as they were leaving Marvin’s Bar at the Wye, just west of Missoula. Shelley Hays, who had been sitting in the back of the pickup truck, was found dead when authorities arrived, according to court documents. Julie Blanchard, who was driving the pickup, and her son Casey Blanchard, were wounded and taken to St. Patrick Hospital.

A GoFundMe page was started Friday for Hays, who the page said “left behind his 6 Year old daughter, his family, his girlfriend and his many friends.”

Johnathan Bertsch, the suspected shooter, was taken into custody in the 16000 block of Thornburg Way south of Evaro at about 6:15 a.m. without incident, according to the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.

Bertsch was booked into the Missoula County Detention Facility at about 1:15 p.m. on Friday. Hours later, Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed four charges against him: one count of deliberate homicide and three counts of attempted deliberate homicide.

A motorcade Friday afternoon escorted Palmer from St. Patrick Hospital to the Missoula airport. Montana Attorney General Tim Fox was flying to Utah to meet the trooper and his family, according to Montana Department of Justice spokesman John Barnes.

Gov. Steve Bullock issued a statement Friday: “I’m heartbroken to hear that a Montana Highway Patrol trooper is in critical condition. You and your family are in the hearts and prayers of Montanans everywhere, we are with you.”

Palmer has been with the patrol since 2012 and was assigned to Detachment 112 in Missoula. In 2015, he was awarded the Patrol’s highest honor, the Medal of Valor, for “his heroic lifesaving efforts at the scene of a multiple-vehicle crash involving a mother and her young children in December 2014,” according to a patrol news release.

Palmer has a wife and two young children.

The mood was somber Friday morning on Evaro Hill as investigators worked the scene where the trooper was shot.

His vehicle was still parked at a pull-off in front of the Evaro Community Center, and dozens of law enforcement officials combed the scene as cold wind whipped over the snow. Multiple bullet holes were visible on the car’s windshield and on the passenger side.

Dennis Finnegan, a bartender at the Evaro Bar and Casino, said he didn’t hear any shots fired early Friday morning. Because investigators blocked off Highway 93 after the incident, Finnegan had to sleep at the bar.

“I guess one of the other bartenders heard gunshots, because she lives up here, but she’s taking her kids to school now,” he said.

None of the law enforcement personnel on the scene at Evaro Hill on Friday spoke on the record to the media except to respectfully ask for discretion when taking pictures of a crime scene.

Just before noon, the trooper’s vehicle was towed away.

The shootings unfolded around 11 p.m. Thursday when the Missoula Police Department investigated shots fired at a car on Expressway near the Lithia auto dealership. MPD Sgt. and Public Information Officer Travis Welsh said three people in the car, two men and a woman, were taken to the hospital, all for gunshot wounds. Charging documents filed against Bertsch later illustrated how he followed Hays, Julie Blanchard and her son Casey Blanchard from a bar in the Wye before opening fire on their pickup near Lithia. (See related story.)

Around midnight, shots were reported near Evaro Hill, triggering a massive manhunt that saw all traffic blocked on Highway 93 North between mile markers 3 and 10 as law enforcement from multiple agencies spent hours searching for a man driving a white SUV, and believed armed with an AR-15 and a .45, according to scanner reports.

“Obviously, our thoughts are with the trooper and Highway Patrol,” Welsh told the Missoulian.

Lake County Sheriff Don Bell told the Missoulian his team secured Bertsch’s Arlee residence, and removed his grandfather from the property, after learning Bertsch may have been heading north from Missoula Thursday night. It was all hands on deck for the Lake County deputies, assisted by Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Police, who set up six surveillance points along Highway 93 hoping to snag Bertsch.

“When a person lives in my county, and does a crime in another county, we want to contain him as soon as we can so he doesn’t hurt anyone else,” Bell said.

Residents in the Evaro Hill area were warned to lock their doors and immediately call 911 to report any unusual activity.

St. Patrick Hospital issued a lockdown on its facilities from 11:41 p.m. until 1:43 a.m. after reports of a shooting suspect at large.

Friday morning, dozens of vehicles from the highway patrol, Missoula police and the sheriff’s office crowded the parking lot at St. Patrick as law enforcement officers trickled in and out to pay their respects and to investigate.