A Flathead County man has been charged with assault with a weapon following a late-night standoff with law enforcement over the weekend.
Glen Steve Charland is accused of shooting at another man who had stopped his car along U.S. Highway 2 between Kila and Kalispell. Charland is currently being held in the Flathead County Detention Center while the county attorney reviews the case and prepares formal charges.
According to Sheriff Brian Heino, a man and woman were driving along Highway 2 west of Kalispell late on Nov. 15 when they hit a dead deer in the middle of the road. The man decided to stop to inspect his car for damage and move the carcass off the roadway. Soon after the man exited his vehicle, he was shot at twice. The man believed the shots came from a nearby camper and called law enforcement.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene and tried to talk to the man in the camper, but he refused to come out. Law enforcement got a warrant to enter the trailer, but the man again refused to come out or let them in, so the SWAT team was deployed. After a few hours, law enforcement fired non-lethal gas into the trailer. The man exited the trailer but still refused to give up. The SWAT team then fired a single non-lethal round at the man, striking him in the leg. The man briefly went back inside the camper but was driven out by the gas that was still lingering in there. The man finally gave up peacefully.