Man Charged in Fuel Fitness Shooting Pleads Not Guilty

A transient man charged with killing the manager of Fuel Fitness and Nutrition and injuring a customer during a shootout in the Kalispell business’s parking lot in September pleaded not guilty Thursday to one felony count of deliberate homicide and another count for attempted deliberate homicide.

Jonathan Douglas Shaw, 35, entered the pleas during an Oct. 28 arraignment hearing in Flathead County District Court before Judge Dan Wilson.

According to charging documents, Kalispell police officers were dispatched on Sept. 16 to the Fuel Fitness parking lot, located at 1305 U.S. Highway 2, for a report of gunshots. Authorities discovered a man they later identified as Matthew Hurley, the gym’s manager, lying dead in the parking lot with blood on his body and bullet wounds to his torso and face. Another man, who police later identified as Shaw, was lying facedown on the ground. When he raised himself to his knees, officers observed a handgun on the ground in front of him, records state.

Law enforcement spoke with Fuel Fitness Assistant Manager Matthew Underhill, who said he and Hurley approached Shaw in the parking lot when they learned he had been sleeping there without permission. Hurley told Shaw he was revoking Shaw’s gym membership in exchange for a partial refund, to which Shaw replied, “Well, you are going to die,” and started shooting at Hurley, according to documents.

Investigators also spoke to William Keck, a Fuel Fitness customer, who said he walked outside the facility and heard “what sounded like firecrackers popping,” then encountered Underhill sprinting toward him. Underhill explained to Keck that Hurley had been shot, at which point Keck retrieved a pistol from his vehicle. He then noticed Shaw climbing into a truck and ordered the man to get out. Keck told officers that Shaw opened the truck’s door and “two rounds came right at me.” Keck returned fire, striking Shaw, and only then realized he’d also been struck in the leg with a bullet, requiring medical treatment.

The defendant also sustained injuries during the shootout and was admitted to Logan Health following the incident.

Shaw appeared for the arraignment seated in a wheelchair and is currently detained at the Flathead County Detention Center.

A group of Hurley’s friends and family appeared in court to support the victim.

Shaw is expected to go to trial in April 2022. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 100 years in the Montana State Prison or the death penalty.