Trout Creek man jailed after shooting and standoff

A Trout Creek man was ordered held on $100,000 bail Friday after an hours-long predawn standoff earlier Friday, Sanders County authorities said.

West Flockerzi was charged with assault with a weapon, and with attempted arson, both felonies, in connection with a shooting in Trout Creek on Wednesday evening, Nov. 14.

The sheriff’s office said in a Friday-morning Facebook post that it had received information that Flockerzi was armed and anticipating a shootout with law enforcement upon service of a warrant. Because of that threat, Sanders County law enforcement sought assistance from the Missoula County Tactical Response Team.

Flockerzi was taken into custody at 4 a.m. Friday after the standoff with law enforcement. According to the release, no one was injured, according to the release. During the standoff, the Missoula team used an armored unit from the Kalispell Police Department.

The search for Flockerzi began early Wednesday evening, after dispatchers received a call that a man was attempting to start a fire at the Lakeside Motel in Trout Creek.

According to the Missoulian, a probable cause affidavit filed in the case said a motel gift shop employee told the manager that “some guy just started the door on fire.” When the manager arrived, he saw a man trying to light something in a bottle, according to the court document.

The manager yelled at him and the man “raised a very large, scoped, bolt-action rifle at his face and said, ‘Back up or I’ll kill ya,’’’ according to the documents.

The manager backed up. Then he called 911.

After Sanders County sheriff’s deputies responded and began speaking with witnesses, the man returned and fired shots into another nearby building and fled, according to authorities.