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Suicidal Woman Surrenders After All-Night Standoff

Police deploy gas in home of Kalispell woman after 'all other options exhausted'

By Justin Franz

A suicidal Kalispell woman surrendered early Thursday morning after a 13-hour standoff with police that resulted in a minor evacuation and the deployment of tear gas.

According to a press release from the Kalispell Police Department, law enforcement received a report of a suicidal woman on Sinopah Street just before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The caller said the woman had a handgun.

Police arrived and tried to initiate contact with the woman. Soon after they found out that her 11-year-old son was inside the home. Just before 7 p.m., the boy emerged from the home and was taken to safety.

Crisis negotiators and other officers responded in an armored vehicle and neighbors were informed of the situation, and some where evacuated from their homes. Negotiators tried to contact the woman via phone but were unable to get her to respond. Finally, she began to communicate via text message.

Negotiators worked through the night to get the woman to surrender but by 4 a.m. she stopped returning text messages. After several hours of no contact and “with all other options exhausted,” police released tear gas into the residence.

After deploying the gas, officers waited about an hour before the suspect finally called. They spoke with her for about an hour and formulated a plan for her surrender. At about 8:20 a.m., the woman emerged from the house and was taken into custody.

The woman suffered one minor injury during the standoff and was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for evaluation.