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Standoff means hot, long hours for cops

Billings police officers literally worked around the clock in their response to the gunman who barricaded himself in the Town House Motel.

Officers who were on duty when the armed standoff began about 2 p.m. Monday were kept at work until 9:30 p.m. - a 14-1/2-hour shift. They were ordered to report back to work at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The police night shift, which usually goes home at 7 a.m., remained on duty until noon Tuesday.

Some officers reported that they had already worked extended shifts Sunday or Saturday because of staff shortages.

Police Chief Dave Ward estimated that three-fourths of all uniform officers had assisted in the response by Tuesday afternoon. Volunteers were working longer hours and some officers were reassigned, he said.

Special tactical units from the Police Department and the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Department donned black jumpsuits, body armor and combat helmets to wait out the gunman under a searing sun that heated Billings to 92 degrees by midafternoon.

"As hot as it is out there, they really need to be rotated and rested," Ward said.

Four Montana Highway Patrol officers assisted the city with traffic control Tuesday.

Three city animal control officers, including one whom the armed suspect had threatened last week, stayed on the scene throughout the standoff. A fourth animal control officer joined them Tuesday morning.

Billings Fire Chief Lorren Ballard, Assistant Chief Phil Frank and a battalion chief were on the street near the motel, and consulted with police supervisors for hours before a crew of three firefighters brought in a fire engine with an aerial ladder.

The Salvation Army's disaster canteen kept the officers supplied with coffee and cookies through the night and cold drinks and food through the hot day.

"This is our third disaster in about a week," said Alice Fost, the Salvation Army store dispatcher who tended a refreshment table on the sidewalk around a corner from the motel. The canteen crew recently had seen action at two wildfires.

Fost arrived for canteen duty at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, but three other staff members opened it about 7 p.m. Monday, she said.

Fost said several Billings businesses, including McDonald's and Perkins restaurants, the Sheraton Hotel and Buttrey Food, donated refreshments for the officers.

"The community has been wonderful," the police chief said. The canteen was a godsend, he said.

The Salvation Army also offered clothing and other assistance to people who were displaced when the motel was evacuated. Fost said the organization would provide motel rooms elsewhere to any Town House Motel residents who needed another place to stay Tuesday night.

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