Great Falls Police Chief Jeff Newton faced reporters Tuesday morning with a blunt message: the last two weeks have been the most demanding stretch his department has seen all year — and nobody saw it coming.
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"How do you anticipate an individual committing a homicide and stabbing five of his family members?" Newton said. "How do you anticipate things going on completely separate at Great Falls High?"
Between Sept. 24 and Oct. 6, GFPD dispatch received 2,575 calls for service — nearly 200 per day, the highest call volume of 2026.
It started Sept. 24, when the department's Central Montana High Risk Unit responded to a mutual aid request in Harlem involving a barricaded suspect and a potential hostage.
The encounter turned violent. Two officers were injured — one has returned to duty, the other is still recovering. Four remain on administrative leave while the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation conducts its review.
Days later, officers searched for 22-year-old Tanner Rust, reported missing Sept. 26. He was found dead outside city limits the following evening.
Then came Oct. 2. A student who tried to break up a fight at the Great Falls High School homecoming game was stabbed with life-threatening injuries. He has since been released from the hospital and is recovering at home. Ira Hayes Henderson Jr., 21, was arrested Oct. 6 and is held in lieu of a $100,000 bond.
Hours later, officers responded to Countryside Village — multiple stab victims, including a six-day-old infant. Aurora Thomas was flown to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, where she died from a sharp-force injury to the brain.
Her death has been ruled a homicide. Her father, Nathan Thomas, is charged with deliberate homicide and multiple felony assault counts. The two emergencies forced GFPD to shift to emergency-only response, relying on the Cascade County Sheriff's Office to cover calls inside city limits.
On Oct. 4, an unresponsive man was found in a parking lot adjacent to the police department and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
When asked whether the incidents are connected, Newton was direct.
"There's no link between any of them," he said. "They just all happen in very close proximity to one another."
Already down three sworn positions, Newton said the weight of these weeks — especially Aurora's death — has hit his officers hard.
"Particularly the death of an infant — that's absolutely awful," Newton said. "There are times where we've had to remove an officer from field duty to provide some extra counseling for them to deal with those issues."
The department's peer-to-peer support program and critical incident debriefs are active for all personnel involved. Increased patrol visibility is underway near Great Falls High School. All investigations remain ongoing.
