LIBBY - A man and his wife are dead following an apparent murder-suicide that resulted in an eight-hour standoff on south Main Street in Libby.

At approximately 6:28 a.m. Tuesday, 911 dispatch received a call from Dale Kinniburgh Jr., 51, who said he had killed his wife, Catherine Kinniburgh, 55.

Kinniburgh then said he was going to kill himself, which resulted in the hours-long standoff.

"Because of some of the calls we've received in the past from this residence, we thought it was best for safety reasons to evacuate the nearby residents," Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe said.

Several law enforcement agencies responded, including the Flathead County Special Response Team.

"They called and asked for our help this morning," Curry said Tuesday afternoon. "I don't think they knew at that point whether or not it was a homicide-suicide or if there was a barricade situation."

Other agencies responding included the Libby Police Department, Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and the Montana Highway Patrol.

At approximately 2:21 p.m., officers entered the home and found the Kinniburghs' bodies. No shots were fired by law enforcement.

Coroner Steve Schnackenberg pronounced the Kinniburghs dead at the scene.