A Montana man who reportedly feared he was about to be removed from his residence was arrested after allegedly killing a child and injuring a woman in a shooting Sunday evening at his Helena home in the 800 block of Orange Street, police said.
65-year-old Tony Louis Valez was booked into the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center and charged with one count of deliberate homicide, two counts of attempted deliberate homicide and one count of criminal endangerment, all felonies.
Police were called to the home around 5 p.m. after Valez called 911 to report that he had shot at people who he thought were going to assault him, the Helena Police Department reported in a press release.
Valez told authorities he shot the woman until she fell to the ground and then began shooting at a man, who was not hit. Both of these victims were well-known to Valez and one of them had a lawful right to be in the residence, police said in an arrest affidavit, adding that neither victim had made a threat or gesture to Valez.
Valez told authorities he believed they were going to remove him from the residence. He said he snapped, retrieved a firearm from his bedroom and began shooting at the two adults, police said.
Valez told police he intended to kill the woman, who was taken to the hospital by a private vehicle and is expected to survive her injuries.
Two children were sitting a short distance away, police said, and one of them who posed no threat to Valez was shot. Police immediately attended to the 8-year-old girl, and she was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
Two more children were in the basement at the time of the shooting, the affidavit says.
“This shooting was an isolated incident and occurred at the residence,” police said in the press release. “Police were able to locate the male responsible for the shooting quickly as he was still at the residence, and we do not believe there was any threat to the Community.”
the child has been identified as 8-year-old Arianna Frankie Louise Valez.
Valez’s bond was set at $1 million Monday. His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 2.
During his initial appearance Monday, the only question Valez had for Justice of the Peace Mark Piskolich was about accessing his funds and credit cards. The judge told him he could not help with that.
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