GREAT FALL — There is a large police presence outside a house in the Riverview neighbhorhood.
Officers have their weapons drawn and are communicating with a person inside the home. Traffic is blocked at Division Road and 2nd Street, preventing drivers from turning on to Riverview Drive.
The Great Falls Police Department posted the following message on Facebook at 2:44 p.m. "Please avoid the area near Riverview Dr East and 2nd St NE. We are working a situation in the area, expect to see a large police presence."
At this point, there does not appear to be any threat to schools in the area.
There are no reports of any injuries to anyone inside the home or outside.
Some people have speculated that the person involved may be the one who posted threatening messages on the KRTV Facebook late Monday morning; we reported those messages to the GFPD as soon as we received them. We have not yet received any word from the GFPD as to whether it is the same person.
We will update you as we get more information.
(UPDATE, 3:14 pm) Great Falls Public Schools posted the following message on Facebook: "Parents and Students: Please avoid area from Riverview Dr. E between Division and 2nd St.NE.There is police activity in the area. Students riding busses in this area will be re-routed to their homeschools. All students living in this area should be picked up at their school. (Riverview, NMS, CMR)"
(UPDATE, 3:25 pm) The GFPD says that the situation has been resolved, and thanked people in the area for their cooperation. Officers were able to get the man - whose name has not yet been released - to surrender peacefully, and he is now in custody. There is no word yet on what charges he may face. There were no injuries to anyone inside the home or outside.
The GFPD confirmed to KRTV that the man in custody is the same person who posted threatening messages on Facebook and on the KRTV Facebook page on Monday morning, using the alias "John Smith."
Among the messages he posted:
"I am going to kill a hole hell of a lot of cops very soon. Just wanted to let you know before I get started.""Battle dress on, pack loaded, mags loaded, gun loaded, not chambered yet, final goodbyes, cross on heart."
The GFPD said that they plan to release more details on Tuesday; we will update you as we get more information.
