BILLINGS — Billings police were investigating a shooting early Wednesday morning.
“Today I called the police to see if it was safe enough for my grand-kids to come out and go to school, ‘cause they were all still over there," said Norene Harris, a neighbor who lives near where the shooting took place.
Police said on social media the shooting was first reported by staff at a Billings hospital who contacted police at about 5:30 a.m. to report a man had arrived in the emergency department with numerous gunshot wounds.
The 34-year-old Billings man was listed in critical condition, police said.
“I do have two small children, and they kind of developed a defense mechanism where when they hear those gunshots they’ll get down on the floor and start crawling," said Jinny Yellowmule, who lives on the southern part of Billings.
The shooting was determined to have happened in the 300 block of South 28th Street, and a suspect was not immediately identified.
Police said the investigation is ongoing. No other information was immediately released.
The same scene was the focus of an investigation in November following the shooting death of a Billings man whose infant son was also killed.
Gary Weitz, who owns multiple properties across Yellowstone County including the South 28th Street house, said he has only learned about these crimes from news reports.
“There have been tenants in there that, from time to time, I think were involved in some kind of criminal activity," said Weitz.
There were seven code violations listed at the South 28th Street property in 2023 and 37 in total since 2010. All violations were rectified after calls to Weitz, according to Billings Code Enforcement.
“We have had cases on this property in the past and very recently for open storage and junk vehicles. The owner has always brought the property into compliance with us after being sent a notice," said Tina Hoeger of Billings Code Enforcement.
Neighbors, however, are looking for local leaders to take action.
“Condemn those houses, evict the people, and then tear them down, that would be a good thing," said Harris.
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