The investigation confirmed that the shooting was part of an ongoing dispute between rival gang members and that immediately prior to the shooting, some of the juveniles in the stolen car had been displaying gang hand-signs. One juvenile was arrested for two felonies: Criminal Endangerment for allegedly firing the handgun and Theft for allegedly stealing the vehicle. Another juvenile was arrested for Probation Violation. This case has been referred for prosecution and it continues to be actively investigated. Further charges may be referred for prosecution as new information and evidence is discovered through this investigation.

While thankfully no one was injured in this very serious incident, and the Missoula Police Department asks for the community’s assistance in preventing further incidents of this type. In this incident, and in others like it, juveniles often use social media platforms such as Snapchat, Discord, Instagram, and others, to promote or glamorize gang activity and to instigate or continue gang related disputes. Parents and guardians are encouraged to monitor your child’s social media activity for indications of gang involvement such as hand-signs, gang graffiti, conspicuous display of specific colored clothing or bandanas, or for posts involving weapons or threats of violence. Anyone seeing posts such as these, please alert the Missoula Police Department.

Also in this case, and others like it, juveniles have gained access to firearms and use them for criminal purposes. These firearms are most commonly taken from a member of their household or stolen from a vehicle. Please secure your firearms from unauthorized access and never store a firearm in a parked vehicle.

The Montana Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act provides additional penalties for any crimes committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, any criminal street gang. The Missoula Police Department is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting all criminal street gang activity. To prepare ourselves to take this emerging issue, we are hosting a multi-agency training related to gang activity this month and will use that training to promptly respond to gang issues and to coordinate investigations and prosecutions for gang related crime.