Man shot to death by police

The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell police shot and killed a registered violent offender early Thursday after the man threatened officers with a shotgun. Trevor New, a 28-year-old Kalispell resident, had a history of assault with weapons and was on parole when he was killed.

At 12:34 a.m., the Kalispell Police Department received a 911 call from a woman who said her boyfriend, New, had thrown her to the ground during a domestic dispute at 116 Buffalo Square Court. She told the dispatcher, "He's coming at me"; then the line went dead. Witnesses later told investigators New had ripped the phone from the wall.

When officers arrived, they heard yelling and sounds of a fight coming from an upstairs bedroom. New and his brother were wrestling for control of a shotgun.

New won the struggle and turned the gun toward the officers when they entered the room. They attempted to subdue him with a Taser, but New continued to advance toward them, yelling, never lowering his shotgun.

When he continued to threaten the officers, they shot him. Kalispell Fire Department paramedics treated New at the scene, then took him to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where later he was pronounced dead.

The Kalispell Police Department's policy is to request an outside agency to investigate any officer involved in a shooting. As a result, the scene was secured and turned over to the Flathead County Sheriff's Office for further investigation.

Also because of department policy, the officers involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative leave pending an internal review of the incident.