Three suspects were arrested on Sunday after the Kalispell Police Department responded to two reports of a drive-by shootings involving “airsoft” pistols.
Nicholas A. Licht, 22, of Kalispell, and two juvenile males were arrested and charged with two felonies in relation to the shootings, including assault with a weapon.
The first shooting occurred on the 400 block of South Main Street early in the morning. According to the KPD, the suspects fired airsoft pistols at a crowd gathered on the sidewalk. Airsoft pistols look like handguns but fire plastic rounds at a slower speed than a BB gun. As many as seven people were struck by the shooting, including a pregnant woman, according to police reports.
While police were responding to the South Main call, a second shooting was called into emergency dispatch. The second victim, a young man shot while carrying groceries out of a local supermarket, gave chase to the suspects and relayed their direction of travel to police.
The suspects were located and apprehended without incident. Police reports say the victims in both incidents believed real guns were being pointed at them and only after being shot did they realize the guns were not firearms.
The suspects were charged with assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment. They were incarcerated pending appearance in Flathead County Justice Court.