A 56-year-old Columbia Falls woman is suing the Flathead County sheriff’s department, arguing a SWAT team member used excessive force in shooting her in October 2013 and that no one in the department stopped him.
The federal lawsuit, filed April 3, said officers responded to Michelle Gentry’s home after she locked herself inside and threatened suicide.
Gentry’s lawsuit said when she came out of her house holding a gun a deputy fired 15 shots at her without warning, hitting her in the shoulder and back.
The deputy has said Gentry made eye contact with him, pointed her handgun at him and said “do it.”
The sheriff’s office has said the deputy reacted appropriately.
The Flathead County attorney’s office agreed to defer prosecution on a charge of assault on a peace officer.