Follow-up: Procession Held for Montana Deputy Terpsma: Governor Orders Flags at Half-Staff, Suspect Makes First Court Appearance
A procession was held on the morning of November 2 for Ryan Terpsma, the 28-year-old Lincoln County, Montana, sheriff's deputy who was shot and killed on duty in Eureka on the night of October 30. Montana law enforcement escorted his body for examination before it was returned to Libby, the Lincoln County seat, and Governor Greg Gianforte ordered flags across the state flown at half-staff starting November 2 in his honor.
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said Terpsma was shot while responding to a disturbance call in Eureka on October 30; a Eureka police officer was also struck but suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Investigators said a 46-year-old woman was also shot and killed at the scene of the original call, and a juvenile girl was injured, treated at the scene and released. The suspect, a 50-year-old Kalispell resident, fled with a 7-year-old girl, led police on a chase and was arrested; he made his first appearance in Lincoln County Justice Court on November 2.
Terpsma graduated from Squalicum High School in Bellingham, Washington, in 2017 and was sworn in at the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office in May 2026. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in a statement that Terpsma answered the call and made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his community, and that he will not be forgotten.
Related: Montana Deputy and a Woman Shot Dead: Kalispell Man Arrested After Chase
(Source: My Bellingham Now)
Source: My Bellingham Now
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：蒙大拿州林肯县县治利比市街景（《西部新闻》报社）。Tony Webster 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A street view in Libby, the Lincoln County seat in Montana (The Western News office). By Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-31Montana Deputy and Woman Killed in Shooting near Eureka; Kalispell Man Arrested after Chase
- 2026-11-02Follow-up: Procession Held for Montana Deputy Terpsma: Governor Orders Flags at Half-Staff, Suspect Makes First Court AppearanceThis story
