Billings, Montana

From the Billings Gazette of June 21, 2006

Gunshots fired; suspect wounded

Gunshots were fired in a downtown apartment early Tuesday after a group of intruders forced their way inside and accosted a 55-year-old male occupant, police said.

A male suspect in the break-in at 45 Custer Ave. was wounded in the arm and torso when the resident, Randy Hochhalter, fired twice during the struggle, police said. Officers and emergency crews responded to reports of gunfire at about 4:20 a.m.

An intruder also fired a weapon during the confrontation but did not hit anyone.

The wounded man, who fled with others in the group, was located in northern Wyoming later in the day, Billings Police Capt. Dave Hinkel said. The man was taken by helicopter to a Billings hospital, where he was in surgery for what appeared to be nonlife-threatening wounds, Hinkel said.

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