A man shot by a Billings Police officer late Friday night is in “critical but stable” condition at a local hospital.
Police Chief Rich St. John said at a news conference on Monday a six-year veteran of the police department shot the man in the lower abdomen as officers responded to a report of a domestic dispute between the man and a woman. Police say the man was armed and noncompliant.
According to St. John, the 22-year-old man was walking backwards away from police when he reached for a handgun in his waistband, at which point Officer Ryland Nelson shot him with his department-issued gun.
“He was ordered to not touch the gun, he then touched the waistband three times without grabbing the gun," St. John said. "The fourth time he grabbed the gun and began to pull it from his waistband."
The man’s name has not been released and no arrests have been made in the case. The department and the state division of criminal investigation are reviewing the shooting.
This is the fourth police shooting in Billings this year. The other three were fatal.
