GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - Law enforcement officers who shot and killed a Great Falls man have been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in a coroner’s inquest.
The Great Falls Tribune reports (https://gftrib.com/1hWKzkk) that a Cascade County jury on Friday took less than 30 minutes to reach its decision involving the shooting death of 29-year-old Thomas Pulst on May 8.
Federal, state and local officers were attempting to serve a felony warrant on Pulst. Police say Pulst fired toward officers through a door, then fled the room with two handguns and ran out a back door where Deputy U.S. Marshals Morgan Kasuske and Jeremy Fisher were positioned.
“In each hand he had a gun,” Fisher told the jury. “He had one trained at Kasuske and one at me.”
Police say Pulst fired at Kasuske and Fisher, who returned fire. Pulst was hit six times and died.
“I was in fear of everybody’s life - including his,” said Kasuske, who choked back tears as he testified.
“It sounded like the Fourth of July,” said Great Falls Police Officer Justin Stevens about the number of shots being exchanged.
Mark Hilyard, lead investigator from the Division of Criminal Investigation, said Pulst fired nine shots both in and outside of the house. He didn’t disclose how many shots marshals fired.
Montana Department of Corrections records say Pulst is a parole absconder who has twice been convicted of criminal endangerment. The convictions included felony criminal endangerment for firing an AK-47 in the city in 2001, and a probation violation in another criminal endangerment case for firing more gun shots.
Tim Hides, Pulst’s probation and parole officer, said Pulst had failed to check in for more than a month, leading Hides to ask law enforcement officials for help in taking Pulst into custody after Hides found out where Pulst was staying.
“Thomas had a history of running from the police,” Hides said. He also said he knew Pulst to be violent.
Officers arrived at Pulst’s house and talked with other people in the home and determined Pulst was hiding inside. They ordered three adults and a child to leave the home and entered while other officers covered possible exits.
Witnesses on Friday described the shooting that followed. Willie Kemp, a medical examiner with the Montana State Crime Lab, said toxicology reports indicated Pulst had methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death.
Following the death, the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation determined that Pulst died from shots fired by the U.S. Marshals. Kemp declared Pulst’s death to be a homicide, leading to the coroner’s inquest for a jury to determine if police involved in the shooting acted properly.
“Homicide is a medical determination,” Kemp said. “It doesn’t imply anything was done illegally.”
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Information from: Great Falls Tribune, https://www.greatfallstribune.com
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