Five-Year-Old’s 911 Call Sparks Six Hour Bozeman Standoff, Ends Peacefully

The Bozeman Police Department was buzzing this morning after a call placed by a five-year-old boy led to a six hour standoff at a hotel.

"Just before 1 a.m., our officers responded to a kind of open 911 line where a young child seemed to be scared and said something about a bad guy being in the room with him," Bozeman City Chief of Police Steve Crawford said. "Our officers responded to a hotel on the north side of town, the Microtel Inn. Ultimately they located a male subject in a hallway that barricaded himself in the room with a small child."

Officers tried to talk to 36-year-old Kenneth Markee of Billings, but the situation quickly escalated to the point where a negotiator and a special response team had to be called in.

"The male actually tried to escape out an exterior window and then went back inside," Crawford said. "Then officers heard a gunshot from within a hotel room and then a standoff followed. About six hours later, Markee was taken into custody without incident and he agreed to come out of the hotel room. The investigation has led to an arrest for criminal endangerment."

According to Crawford, the bullet went into a neighboring hotel room. More charges may be coming as the investigation continues, but Crawford said that the situation did not appear to be a kidnapping. Crawford praised the work of the negotiator who was able to talk Markee into surrendering and brought the standoff to a peaceful conclusion.