2 killed, 1 injured in Halloween night shooting near Plains

Two people were shot and killed and another was injured in a Halloween night shooting near Plains, authorities said.

The suspect fled the scene before law enforcement arrived but was later apprehended in Hot Springs, according to Sanders County Sheriff Shawn Fielders.

Law enforcement officers were dispatched at 11:27 p.m. Oct. 31 to a report of a disturbance and shots fired at a home on Prairie Lane near Plains. Responding officers found two deceased people at the home and a third person who suffered serious gunshot injuries.

Other law enforcement agencies were notified that a suspect vehicle had left the scene before officers arrived. Hot Springs Police Chief Eric Larson located the vehicle in Hot Springs and took a suspect into custody without incident, a press release said.

Detectives with the Sanders County Sheriff's Office were investigating the shooting. The suspect's name was not released, and the victims' names were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The incident follows an alleged shooting spree near Eureka in Lincoln County on Friday, Oct. 30 that left a woman and a Lincoln County Sheriff's Office deputy dead. The suspect in that incident, 50-year-old Matthew David Dye, was apprehended following a chase on U.S. 93 during which Dye allegedly shot at pursuing Flathead County deputies.