Man Aiming a Firearm at Passing Vehicles is Arrested in Missoula

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On February 17, 2025, Missoula Police Department Officers were dispatched to the area of 1st Street and Orange Street for a report of a man in a tan trench coat aiming a firearm at passing vehicles. The 911 caller, John Doe, advised that the male pulled out a rifle and aimed it at another vehicle. The male then tucked the rifle under the right flap of his coat and started walking northbound. 

Doe had to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid the male. The male was walking towards McCormick Park, where the college student housing was. Doe reported that the male was now walking northbound on Orange Street.  

Multiple officers arrived on scene and Doe drove up to them. He looked back and observe the male, later identified as David Tenney, walk directly out in front of the road in front of a vehicle that was in the right lane. 

Doe observed Tenney’s trench coat fly up and he thought, “what . . . is that?” Doe then observed Tenney “swing up a long style rifle” at the vehicle. Doe then observed the male head toward the college student housing. Doe advised the rifle was a “long style rifle” with a wooden stalk, tucked underneath the right side of Tenney’s trench coat.  

While an officer spoke with Doe, several other officers observed that Tenney had an AR-15 concealed in his trench coat on his right side with the barrel sticking out of the bottom. A high-risk stop was conducted. Tenney was detained and the rifle was seized. Officers located two magazines on Tenney’s person, each with 30 rounds of green tip ammo, which is ammo designed to penetrate steel.  

Officers also realized that the gun was manipulated and appeared to be a “ghost gun.” The officer knows that ���ghost guns” are types of firearms that are never registered or given a serial number, making it impossible to track the firearm. 

An officer escorted Tenney to a patrol vehicle and read him his Miranda rights. Then Tenney requested a lawyer. Three officers noted a strong carbon odor in the air consistent with a firearm being discharged. Officers searched for a spent shell casing but were unable to find one. An officer noted that this incident occurred during a winter weather advisory, where several inches of snow had already fallen over the past couple of days, making it difficult to conduct the search.  

READ MORE: Missoula News - Crime Reports

Tenney was transported to the Missoula County Detention Facility. Tenney is currently being charged with felony assault with a weapon. His bond was set at $75,000.  

An officer reviewed previous reports involving Tenney and noticed a pattern of Tenney stepping into roadways assaulting vehicles and/or being dissatisfied with others’ driving behaviors. In one incident, Tenney made traffic impassable by stopping in the roadway. Tenney also physically punched vehicles in another report. Law enforcement noted Tenney’s behaviors are clearly escalating now that he armed himself and pointed the rifle at two separate vehicles. 

The information in this article was obtained from sources that are publicly viewable.