Billings police responded Sunday evening to a shots-fired report at a home on White Star Circle in Billings’ West End and found the residence fully engulfed in flames. The emergency drew multiple agencies to the block after 6 p.m., and one person was taken to a hospital.
Billings Police Sgt. Jeff Stovall said officers were able to verify that shots were being fired from inside the residence before the fire took over. Nearby homes were evacuated as a safety precaution while the scene remained active Sunday night, and police said the investigation could take several days.
For neighbors, the sound and the sight came fast. David Hiller said he heard gunshots and then looked into his backyard, where he saw sheriff’s personnel moving through his yard and a neighbor’s yard with long guns. He said black smoke turned into a full fire, and that he thought he saw a body out front of the house that looked unresponsive.
Police had not released information about any fatalities as of Sunday night, and they also had not said what led to the gunfire or the blaze. That leaves the central question untouched: whether the fire began during the shooting, or whether the two were part of a sequence that unfolded in minutes inside a quiet stretch of Billings’ West End.
What is clear is that the response was large and immediate. The Billings Police Department, Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office, Montana Highway Patrol, Billings Fire Department and medical personnel all converged on the area, and the investigation is expected to stretch for several days.
