Standoff ends after 6 hours

A six-hour standoff with a man claiming to have a firearm, while barricaded inside a Kalispell motel room with a 17-year-old male, ended with an arrest Friday evening after a SWAT team stormed the room at 4:50 p.m.

Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset said Thomas Mulligan received minor injuries from one of three flash bangs thrown into a first-floor room at the Super 8 motel on First Avenue East.

Mulligan was booked into the Flathead County Detention Center shortly after being checked out at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

The ordeal began when Kalispell police officers attempted to serve a warrant on Mulligan, a fugitive wanted for an alleged parole violation stemming from a previous kidnapping conviction.

Mulligan was traveling with a 17-year-old runaway, who he met via the Internet several months ago. The two were in a vehicle that had been stolen in Filer, Idaho, on Dec. 26, according to police.

After a request for assistance from the Filer Police Department at 10:26 a.m. Friday, officers used Mulligan’s cellular phone to track him to the motel where the stolen vehicle was found.

Nasset said Mulligan claimed to have a gun and told officers he would not be taken alive when he was initially contacted inside the room.

Negotiators, the department’s armored vehicle and a special response unit were called to the scene and officers evacuated the north wing of the motel, Nasset said.

When it became clear the negotiations weren’t advancing, Nasset said the decision was made to storm the room.

“They had six hours not resulting in any forward movement and felt like it was an opportunity,” Nasset said.

An eight-member SWAT team breached the room through an exterior window and the door. Mulligan and the teen were barricaded in the bathroom, Nasset said, adding that a third flash bang was used and Mulligan was then arrested.

The teen was placed in protective custody. Nasset said an investigation is under way and it is not known if the teen will face criminal charges.

Officers continued searching the motel at press time, but Nasset said a firearm had not been found and that Mulligan’s claim may have been an attempt to keep officers from entering the room.

About 17 officers were called to the scene at a time when only five officers would normally be on duty, Nasset said. The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office was on standby during the ordeal.

Mulligan has an extensive criminal history across several states, Nasset said. Additional charges are pending.

Nasset lauded the motel staff for its assistance throughout the standoff.

“Super 8 was exceptional in helping us out during this situation,” Nasset said.