At around 4:30 a.m. on Friday, Missoula police officers responded to a report of a shot fired at a residence in the 100 block of North Johnson Street. Police Public Information Officer Travis Welsh explains.

“The complainant said that her ex-boyfriend, identified as 27-year-old Rodney Shear, was pounding on the front door and was currently in the parking lot,” Welsh said. “At one point, the complainant also advised that the male was in possession of a handgun and subsequently reported that a shot was fired into her apartment.”

When officers arrived, they heard a female calling for help and one officer observed a firearm lying at the bottom of the stairs near the residence, which he then secured.

“When the officers arrived, they found the complainant and Mr. Shear physically fighting on the front porch landing,” Welsh said. “The female was screaming for help. The officers engaged with the two, ordered them to stop fighting and show their hands, but their instructions and commands were ignored. At one point, an officer deployed his taser, ending the dispute. They were able to take Mr. Shear into custody.”

The woman went into her residence to check on her two children. An officer went with her and spoke with her about what happened.

“They spoke with the complainant who showed them a bullet hole that entered from outside and in to the apartment,” Welsh said. “The complainant also advised that she was the mother of two small children who she had in the apartment and had told to go to the back room and hide.”

The woman told the officer that she heard the gun go off. Court documents indicate two nearby neighbors also heard the round being fired. One neighbor observed Shear with the firearm in his hand and saw him fire the pistol.

The woman showed the officer where the bullet entered through an outside wall of the residence, went through that wall, and into another wall that was in her children’s bedroom. The slug was located in a nightstand in the children’s bedroom. Her two children were in the residence at the time of the gunshot. The officer noted the woman’s voice began to crack and tremor as she progressively became more upset and scared while recalling the incident.

Shear is currently being charged with one count of felony criminal endangerment.

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