Man charged with Billings-area shootings
The Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 10 months AGO
BILLINGS — A convicted felon who police said recently bought a handgun and was paranoid after having used methamphetamine is charged with two shooting incidents in the Billings area.
Kelly Dee Megard, 52, made an initial appearance in Justice Court on Thursday on one count of attempted deliberate homicide and three counts of felony criminal endangerment. Justice of the Peace Pedro Hernandez set bail at $500,000.
Assistant Public Defender Casey Moore did not object to the bond amount. Megard is scheduled to be arraigned before District Judge Michael G. Moses on July 25.
Megard is charged with shooting at an SUV carrying a 32-year-old woman and her two children on Tuesday afternoon and then ramming the SUV with his car.
Prosecutors say he then drove about 8 miles to Pictograph Cave State Park, where witnesses said he was yelling incoherently and firing shots into the bushes.
No one was injured, but bullets came within inches of the woman and one of her children, Police Chief Rich St. John has said.
Investigators have put together a timeline of Megard’s actions in recent days.
Megard, a parolee who was living in his car, told detectives he bought a handgun about five days before the shooting from someone he knew.
Prosecutors allege Megard pulled a handgun on a man Tuesday morning.
The man identified Megard from a photo lineup. Sheriff Mike Linder says his office has sent a report on the confrontation to the Yellowstone County attorney’s office for consideration of possible charges.
Surveillance video shows Megard buying ammunition at 12:31 p.m. on Tuesday.
The woman reported the shooting 16 minutes later, St. John said.
Charging documents say two bullet holes could be seen in the driver’s side door of the vehicle and that a window had been shot out.
Just over 30 minutes later, someone started firing shots at the state park. About 40 visitors took cover in the park’s museum.
Megard has several felony convictions on his record and was on parole for conspiring to assault a peace officer in Cascade County in 2010, prosecutors said.
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