HELENA – U.S. Senator Jon Tester and Montana Attorney General Tim Fox are teaming up to offer consumer protection tips for the 367,000 Montanans who were affected by the recent Equifax breach.

Senator Tester, who is also a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined with Montana Consumer Protection Chief Mark Mattioli Thursday to discuss the breach.

At the conference Tester and Mattioli provided instructions on how residents can protect themselves in the wake of the breach. Tips included monitoring your credit reports and bank accounts and checking the Equifax website to see if your info may have been compromised.

According to Mattian and estimated 60 to 70 percent of Montanans have been impacted and need to take the appropriate steps.

Mattioli and Senator Tester also warned that if Equifax said that your data “may” have been compromised that really means that it was.

If you are a victim, you should report any fraudulent activity, request an extended fraud alert and implement a credit/security freeze.

Tester gave his assurance to Montanans that Equifax will not be let off the hook for this breach of public trust.

“We will hold Equifax accountable for this data breach and we’re going to find out just what and when they knew – and if needed we’ll recommend for heads to roll,” said Tester.

A class action lawsuit was also recently filed for Montanans affected by the breach.

Tester asked why Equifax executives dumped more than $1.5 million in stock prior to the breach announcement and said he has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.

Attorney General Fox said, “Equifax could have prevented the personal information of 143 million Americans, including more than 367,000 Montanans, from being breached by installing a security patch to its web application.  That they did not is inexcusable.”

“Montana consumers impacted by this massive data breach deserve answers and assistance moving forward,” added Fox.

Fox has joined a multi-state investigation with other attorneys general to learn more about the breach and how Equifax intends to protect consumers who are impacted.

To download a fact sheet about what to do if you think you’ve been impacted by the breach, click here.

The Office of Consumer Protection also recommends clicking here to get a free credit report.

Senator Tester said at the conference that if Montanans have questions the first place they should go for information is the Montana Department of Justice website.

MISSOULA – Police lights and crime tape are often part of the landscape for one Missoula neighborhood that’s growing weary of not only the danger but the stigma of what goes on there.

But after the brutal murder of two people this summer, people who live in central Missoula are reclaiming their neighborhood.

The house is boarded up, and “no trespassing” signs are everywhere.

The house where two young people were not only murdered but dismembered, is boarded up and “no trespassing” signs are everywhere.

The crime scene was so horrific that law enforcement officers who responded to it were offered counseling.

Neighbors say it was the third major crime this year and it’s time to come together and fight back.

“We wanted to do something to connect everybody and to make it fell OK again instead of having cops cars coming down the road,” said organizer Brandi Whitney. “We see each other’s faces and are able to see each other as human beings.”

This weekend, residents who live around Strand and Kensington will gather for a block party to reconnect as neighbors, to reclaim their neighborhood and to work together to make this place safe.

Saturday’s event isn’t just about meeting the neighbors. Members of the Missoula Police Department will talk about the Strand Avenue murders and other crimes. They’ll teach self-defense moves and how to identify if a crime is in progress.

The event comes at a time where some worry about the area’s future as one woman told MTN this summer.

“Unfortunately this neighborhood, you can walk or drive down the street and see needles just everywhere. My daughter went to Franklin Park the other day and there was a needle in the park,” said Strand Avenue resident Megan Huizing.

It is not a bad neighborhood. It’s a place where something bad happened, an old Missoula neighborhood with history where good people will stand up to crime.

“There is always a positive to knowing the people you live by and there’s always a positive to making connections, so I’m hoping in the long run, the neighborhood will embrace each other a little bit more,” Whitney said.

The block party is on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. along the 1900 block of Kensington.

Organizers are asking attendees to bring a chair and a side dish. They’ll provide the main course. There will also be trauma specialists there to talk about an upcoming meeting to help people cope with the crime that happened in their neighborhood.

MTN’s Jill Valley 

BILLINGS – A 30-year-old Lame Deer man who was injured in an assault on Sunday has died, the FBI said in a press release issued Friday morning.

The victim was identified as Ozzy Lee Wilson.

Officers responded to a residence in Lame Deer on Sunday to a report of a man who had been assaulted and was unresponsive. Wilson died early Friday at a Billings hospital.

One man has been arrested by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Northern Cheyenne Police. His name has not been released and no charges have been filed.

FBI Supervisory Agent Travis Burrows said an autopsy was planned on Friday.

HELENA – The civil lawsuit involving the estate of a Helena man murdered in 2011 has been delayed once again.

The Mike Crites civil case, scheduled to go to trial in October, has been postponed indefinitely. Six and a half years ago, a group of plaintiffs, including Dennis Shaw, John Mehan and Kate Wessel who own property on Turk Road, sued the estate of Mike Crites, over a laundry list of claims: seeking legal redress for what they said involved a series of confrontations with Crites, surrounding long-running property disputes in the Turk Road area west of Helena.

The hard feelings devolved over the years into accusations and counter-accusations of threats, guns brandished during arguments, shots allegedly fired on several occasions and roads being blocked.

Crites disappeared in June of 2011. His dismembered body found later that year in two different locations, in garbage bags, on the continental divide.

His home on Turk Road has stood empty since then. Two weeks ago his sister and mother visited the site once again.

The homicide investigation is listed as a cold-case by the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Leo Dutton said he believes the forensic evidence will lead to a solution in the case.

Crites’ estate counter-sued the plaintiffs with another list of complaints.

Both sides have spent more than six years of legal wrangling over the competing lawsuits. The plaintiffs have been represented by a series of lawyers, at one point representing themselves in the case.

Thursday in district court during a pretrial conference, the lawyer for the Crites estate told District Judge James Reynolds the plaintiffs have tried to introduce 15 new witnesses and seven new items as evidence.

The lawyer for Shaw, Mehan and Wessel, appearing by phone, denied the claim, saying the witnesses and the evidence have properly been notified in discovery of documents and the plaintiffs are ready for trial.

The attorney for the estate said there would be no way to prepare for new witnesses and exhibits in only three weeks time.

During the hearing, Judge Reynolds said both his court reporter and scheduling clerk are leaving their positions and he doesn’t know when those posts will be filled.

The judge also ordered a transcript to be produced from an April hearing in order to get all of the history of the case.

The judge then vacated the October trial without a new trial date.

The judge also ordered both sides to file follow-up briefs.

The trial was scheduled to last four days, but with more than 30 witnesses scheduled to testify, it looks as if the new trial will take longer.

HELENA – A Helena suspect was arrested after heroin and drug paraphernalia was found in her car.

Madison K. Glosser is charged with felony drug possession.

A Lewis and Clark Sheriff’s Deputy pulled Glosser over on Sept. 1 after a relative asked law officers to perform a welfare check on her.

During the traffic stop, a sheriff’s department canine indicated there were drugs in her car.
A subsequent search by the Missouri River Drug Task Force located heroin, ten syringes, a metal spoon and two glass pipes in the vehicle Glosser was driving.

Bond in the case has been set at $25,000.

HELENA – Police are investigating a stabbing in downtown Great Falls.

It happened just after 1 p.m. on Monday. The incident involved two men, according to police.

The suspect ran away and remains at large.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment; the nature and severity of his injuries has not been disclosed.

Police officers have put up crime-scene tape in the alley and along the west side of the Park Manor building. They have also placed more than a dozen evidence tags on the ground in the alley and along the sidewalk.

Police do not believe the suspect presents a threat to the general public.

We will update you when we get more information.

MTN’s Shannon Newth and David Sherman 

1 of 3

HELENA – A Helena man is on trial this week for assaulting a 4-month-old baby.

Opening statements were heard Monday afternoon in the case of Aaron J. Oliphant, charged with felony aggravated assault.

Prosecutors said Oliphant was the sole caregiver on June 8, 2016, when his 4-month-old son suffered 5 skull fractures and retinal bleeding in both eyes.

Deputy County Attorney Melissa Broch said the injuries were the result of incredible force.

Prosecutors say the baby was happy and normal when his mother left for work on the evening of the June 8, and was screaming uncontrollably and vomiting when she returned from her job four hours later.

Oliphant allegedly tried to talk the baby’s mother out of going to the emergency room as the child alternated between screaming and passing out.

At the urging of a pediatrician the next morning, the baby was taken to St. Peter’s emergency room on June 9.

Upon examination, doctors said they found the child suffering from non-accidental trauma, threatening the baby’s life.The child was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

The injuries were documented by a CT scan and an MRI and confirmed by teams of doctors in Helena and Salt Lake City.

Oliphant told investigators, at the time, that maybe he’d bounced the child too hard while the baby was in a bouncy chair. He denied hurting the baby, saying he hoped the mother hadn’t hurt the baby.

Broch told the jury that Oliphant’s other children have been injured in the past, including one instance when Oliphant allegedly spanked one boy so badly that his buttocks bled.

Other children were found to have bruising on the face and arms that looked like hand prints.

Oliphant’s defense attorney J. Mayo Ashley, called the state’s case an “interesting story”.

Ashley said no tests showed the child had any bruising following his injuries, if he was injured that badly.

Ashley also told the jury the child had problems prior to the incident and while his client cared for the child for four hours a day, while the child’s mother worked evenings. He asked who cared for the child the rest of the day? A reference to the child’s mother.

Lewis and Clark County Attorney Leo Gallagher told MTN News that the child, now a year and half old, experiences daily seizures.

Gallagher said it’s too soon to tell if the injuries will cause any permanent developmental damage.

The case is expected to last the rest of this week.

BILLINGS – One man was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and another arrested following a stabbing in downtown Billings Monday night.

Investigators report the two men, both in their 20s, started arguing when one stabbed the other, in what appeared to be the arm, a little before 7:45 p.m. The incident happened the 500 block of North 24th Street near the Tumbleweed building, Billings police said.

The incident happened the 500 block of North 24th Street near the Tumbleweed building, Billings police said.

The assailant fled the scene but was found within five minutes with the help of several witnesses, police said.

The victim lost a lot of blood but is expected to recover, police said. No additional information on his condition is known at this time.

1 of 3

GREAT FALLS – A Great Falls woman was arrested Monday for allegedly robbing a drive-in in Great Falls.

Tammy Van Buren detained after allegedly trying to rob Ford’s Drive-In. She also allegedly assaulted the employee she tried to robbed.

An employee said that Van Buren complained about her hamburger and demanded a refund, saying that her burger was “gross.”  Van Buren then entered the doorway of the building and was asked to leave, but refused.

The employee gave her a refund, but Van Buren believed the refund was insufficient and grabbed a pile of money sitting underneath the cash register.

The employee grabbed the money back and again asked Van Buren to leave and tried to push her out of the building. Van Buren then punched the employee in the face.

The incident was captured on surveillance video and two witnesses confirmed what happened.

Van Buren drove away but was quickly apprehended along the 400 block of 12th Street North.

When she was interviewed by police officers, Van Buren admitted that she was not happy with the refund and thought she was owed more money. She also admitted hitting the employee in the face.

Court documents state that Van Buren has convictions for assault, theft, breach of peace and issuing a bad check.

Van Buren has been charged with Felony Robbery. Prosecutors requested that bond for Van Buren be set at $15,000.

MTN’s David Sherman

HELENA –  The case of a suspect accused of severely injuring a four-month-old baby last year went to the jury Wednesday afternoon.

Aaron Oliphant is charged with felony aggravated assault for allegedly causing five skull fractures to his son last June.

Closing arguments in the case were heard Wednesday afternoon.

Prosecutor Leo Gallagher told the jury this case is more than just about a shaken baby. Gallagher said the child, in this case, suffered injuries to the top, the back and the bottom of his skull. He said the baby was shaken and struck with such force that he suffered damage to his brain and both his eyes.

Gallagher showed the jury a picture of the victim taken by Oliphant at approximately 8:30 on the night of June 8, 2016. He told the jury that the baby was happy, healthy and playing at that time, but something happened afterward, because the child was alternating between unconsciousness, screaming and vomiting by the time his mother returned home from her job at 10:30 that night.

Also during his closing arguments, Gallagher took defense lawyer J. Mayo Ashley to ask for repeatedly using the phrase “supposed incident” during the trial.

“There’s no supposed here,” said Gallagher. “This was a series of acts by an adult. One to five dramatic blows to the head, leaving the child’s skull cracked in five places.”
Gallagher said the child was left at death’s door.

“There’s no supposed here, folks,” said Gallagher.

The prosecutor said the victim in this case now wears braces on his head and there’s no telling what sort of developmental delays he’ll experience in the future. Gallagher said the child continues to experience seizures.

The prosecutor also attacked the defense line of argument that the victim in the case experienced no bruising to go along with his injuries. Gallagher reminded the jury that an expert witness testified that no evidence of bruising is quite common in shaken baby cases.
He reminded the jury that immediate onset of symptoms, vomiting, screaming and unconsciousness, are a hallmark of shaken baby cases and that’s what happened here.

“And that was when the child was in his (Oliphants’) care alone,” said Gallagher. “He is guilty.”

Defense attorney Ashley disputed the state’s case, saying the victim had shown signs of illness several days before the incident in question.

As to the injuries suffered by the child, “No one can tell how this child will react as he gets older.”

“We can’t restart that child to what he was,” said Ashley.

The defense attorney told the jury that the prosecution has not answered the key questions of What, Who and How when it comes to the events of that June night.

He said there has been a great deal of “speculation” in the case. Pointing to the witness stand, Ashley said, “Nobody has sat there and told us what happened.”

Ashley told the jury that since those questions can’t be answered there is reasonable doubt and “That’s not guilty,” he said.

The jury began their deliberations at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the prosecution rested their case and the defense called their own witness, the defendant.

When Oliphant took the witness stand the first question Ashley asked was, “Did you harm your child?”

“No sir,” was his answer.

Oliphant told the jury he didn’t learn the extent of the injuries in the case until the trial this week. He told the jury the baby hadn’t been well in the days leading up to the evening prosecutors said the child was injured.

Oliphant told the jury the child was acting fussy and irritated that night. He was caring for the child while his mother was at work.

Under cross-examination, prosecutor Leo Gallagher asked Oliphant if he knew of any accident that would cause the child to experience five skull fractures.

Oliphant said, “I don’t have an answer for that.”

“Did someone purposefully or knowingly hurt your son?”

Oliphant hesitated at that point and failed to answer.

“It’s a simple question,” said Gallagher. “Yes or no?”

“Yes,” said Oliphant.

Gallagher took Oliphant through the series of events that took place the next day, when the child was taken to St. Peter’s Emergency Room. Late that day, a doctor told Oliphant and the baby’s mother that the injuries to the child were non-accidental trauma.

That’s when the child’s mother turned to Oliphant and said, “What did you do?”

Gallagher asked Oliphant why he failed to respond to that question.

“I was in shock,” said Oliphant.

The maximum punishment for aggravated assault is 20-years in the state prison and a fine of $50,000.

HELENA  —  On Monday three Montana Highway Patrol Troopers were honored for their actions in response to the slain deputy last May.

Troopers Benjamin Panas, Thomas Gill and Timothy Wyckoff were honored Monday at the 2017 Governor’s Awards.

The three troopers were among those who assisted on May 16, when Broadwater County Sheriff’s Deputy Mason Moore was murdered.

Deputy Moore was killed while attempting to stop an SUV driven by the Lloyd Barrus and occupied by his son, Marshall Barrus. Shots were fired from the SUV at Moore, which led to his death.

Trooper Panas was the one who responded to the scene and found Moore’s body. He secured the scene and notified other statewide agencies.

The SUV was located on I-90 by the Butte Silverbow Sheriff’s Office.The Barrus’ then led law enforcement officers from several different Montana agencies on a chase that spanned nearly 150 miles between Three Forks and Rock Creek outside of Missoula. Troopers Wyckoff and Gill were called to assist the pursuit. Gill successfully deployed stop sticks, deflating two of the suspect vehicle’s tires and then re-engaged the pursuit.

Troopers Wyckoff and Gill were among those called to assist the pursuit. Gill successfully deployed stop sticks, deflating two of the suspect vehicle’s tires and then re-engaged the pursuit.

When two of the law enforcement vehicles leading the chase became disabled by gunfire, Wyckoff took the lead with Trooper Gill and officers from other law enforcement agencies not far behind.

When the suspects’ vehicle stopped, Wyckoff stopped and took cover from gunfire until backup arrived which included Tropper Gill.

The chase ended in a shootout on Interstate 90 east of Missoula. Wyckoff assisted in taking the suspect driver into custody and Trooper Gill provided cover for officers approaching the passenger.

Trooper Wyckoff was later treated and released for minor injuries sustained in the incident.

Marshall was shot in the head during the shootout and later died from his gunshot wounds. Lloyd was arrested and faces five charges. He could face the death penalty. 

14 law enforcement officers were involved in the incident.

“Despite the devastating loss of Deputy Moore, we are immensely proud of the bravery and dedication to the public demonstrated by all officers involved on that terrible morning,” said Colonel Tom Butler in a statement. “From Deputy Moore who paid the ultimate sacrifice, to our troopers and other law enforcement partners who risked their lives to bring this incident to a swift close- we can never thank you enough.”

GREAT FALLS – A Great Falls man pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in Cascade County Court on Wednesday for the fatal assault of a 26-year-old man.

Darionn Tyler Douglas has been charged with deliberate homicide, or alternatively negligent homicide after the victim he’s accused of assaulting was declared legally dead; he was deemed brain-dead earlier this month.

The victim in the case was declared brain dead a few days after the assault.

The identity of the victim has not been released.

The assault happened on Sept. 5 around 2 a.m. by the intersection of 7th Avenue South and 12th Street near Longfellow Elementary School.

According to court documents, Douglas told police that he and the other man had been drinking and began arguing, which “evolved into a mutual challenge to fight.”

Douglas said that the other man hit him first, breaking his nose and chipping his tooth. Douglas said that he then kicked the victim in the face, knocking him out.

The documents stated Douglas told police he then “repeatedly punched, elbowed and kneed (the victim) in the face.”

The trial has been set for January 8.

HELENA – After deliberating for five hours, a Helena jury found a man guilty of aggravated assault.

Aaron Oliphant, on trial for severely injuring his four-month-old son last June, took the stand Wednesday and was the only witness for the defense Wednesday morning.

Oliphant told the jury he didn’t learn the extent of his son’s injuries in the case until the trial began this week.

Prosecutors said Oliphant was the sole caregiver on June 8, 2016, when his four-month-old son suffered five skull fractures and retinal bleeding in both eyes.

Under cross-examination, prosecutor Leo Gallagher asked Oliphant if he knew of any accident taking place that would cause the child to suffer five skull fractures.

Oliphant said, “I don’t have an answer for that.”

Gallagher told the jury the baby was happy and normal when his mother left for work on the evening of the incident, and was screaming uncontrollably and vomiting when she returned from her job four hours later.

Upon examination, doctors said they found the child suffering from non-accidental trauma, threatening the baby’s life.The child was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

The injuries were documented by a CT scan and an MRI and confirmed by teams of doctors in Helena and Salt Lake City.

Defense Attorney J. Mayo Ashley disputed the state’s case, saying the victim had shown signs of illness several days before the incident in question.

As to the injuries suffered by the child, “No one can tell how this child will react as he gets older,” Ashley said.

He faces a maximum of 50 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Sentencing has been set for Nov. 28.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) spoke with the FBI on Wednesday about the increased cyber threats in Montana in the wake of those that shut down 30 Flathead area schools for three days.

Daines spoke with FBI Director Chris Wray about how Montana can be more proactive in preventing these attacks, and in the event they do happen, how can those responsible be brought to justice.

Wray couldn’t comment specifically on the Flathead area incident but did say the Bureau is aware of increased cyber threats and investigators will continue to be diligent when investigating the crimes.

“I could not agree more that this concept of ransomware, cyber terrorism, the various variants of it that are hitting, and I think the example in your state illustrates that it’s everywhere now,” Wray said. “It’s no longer just ransomware to you know, a big Fortune 500 company. It’s hospitals, it’s its schools in your case – so it’s a threat that is growing.”

Wray also said they believe some of the same organizations responsible for similar attacks are targeting victims in other countries as well.

MTN’s Nicole Miller

HELENA – The suspect in a high-speed chase Wednesday appeared in the Lewis and Clark Justice Court Thursday afternoon.

Christopher David Gransberg is charged with felony criminal endangerment along with misdemeanor eluding a peace officer, failure to provide proof of insurance his fifth offense, and driving while license is suspended or revoked.

Gransberg is accused of driving away from an MHP trooper trying to pull him over for prior offenses.

He led officers on a high-speed chase that began between Helena and East Helena on Highway 12 and continued south on Highway 518 past the Ash Grove Cement Plant and Montana City elementary school.  MHP troopers said the 26-year-old drove his car at speeds of up to 100 mph and passed cars on the right.

The chase ended when Gransberg crashed his car into a light pole at the Montana City roundabout.

In court Thursday, MHP Trooper Sergeant Jay Nelson said Gransberg’s choices Wednesday created a high potential for injury or a fatality.

“When you see those red and blue lights,” saidSgt. Nelson. “You need to pull over.”

His bond has been set at $30,000.

1 of 6

HELENA – Helena police arrested a suspect early Friday morning after finding him passed out in a car with two children inside.

Bruce Lee Wolf Black is charged with felony criminal child endangerment and, in the alternative, fourth offense DUI.

Helena police said they found Wolf Black on the 2500 block of East Broadway behind the wheel of a car at 2:51 Friday morning.

Inside the vehicle with him, two children, aged six months and three years old.

Once officers were able to wake him up by repeatedly knocking on the car window, they said Wolf Black allegedly smelled of alcohol and told them he’d been drinking hard liquor.

Officers said Wolf Black refused to give a breath test or give a blood draw.

Charging documents said Wolf Black’s driver’s history included three previous DUI’s.

Bond in the case has been set at $10,000.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is leaving in place a 70-year prison sentence for a Montana man convicted of shooting a German exchange student who was trespassing in his garage.

The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the case of Markus Kaarma.

Kaarma was convicted of the 2014 death of 17-year-old Diren Dede, who had apparently gone into Kaarma’s garage in Missoula to steal beer. Kaarma had argued the shooting was in self-defense. Prosecutors said Kaarma and his girlfriend were trying to lure a burglar into the garage by leaving the garage door open despite having been burglarized twice before.

Kaarma told the Supreme Court that he didn’t get a fair trial because media coverage of the case prejudiced the outcome.

The United States Marshals Service District of Montana has issued a BOLO Alert (Be-on-the-Lookout) for Michael Todd Smith.

Smith is wanted by the Montana Violent Offender Task Force, the Montana Department of Corrections, and Teton County for release violations and new charges of sexual abuse of children.

Smith’s criminal history includes convictions for dangerous drugs.

Smith, 32, is described as a white male, 5-feet, 11-inches tall, 160 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

If you have information about Smith contact the U.S. Marshals Service at (406) 247-7030 or your local law enforcement agency.

UPDATE (2:25 p.m.) – White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the day after the deadliest mass shooting in the nation’s history is not the time to renew a debate over gun control.

Sanders was asked Monday during the press briefing that there is a “time and place” for a debate but that is “not the place we’re in at this moment.”

She said President Donald Trump was focused on the victims and stressed that it was a “time to unite the country.”

Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama frequently used mass shootings to call for stricter gun control laws. Trump did not mention firearms during his remarks earlier Monday after a gunman in Las Vegas and killed 58 people and injured at least 515 others.

The Republican president has cast himself as a friend to firearms owners and the powerful National Rifle Association lobby.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday condemned the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history as an “act of pure evil” and said the nation was “joined together in sadness, shock and grief” after more than 50 people were gunned down in Las Vegas.

Speaking slowly and somberly from the White House, Trump declared that the nation would rally together in the face of the latest act of senseless violence.

“Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence,” the president said. “We call upon the bonds that unite us: our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity.”

In the measured statement, Trump did not describe the gunman in any way or suggest any possible motivation or affiliation. He praised the first responders who he said prevented further loss of life and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. He offered condolences to the families of those killed, saying “We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss.”

“We are praying for you,” he said. “We are here for you.”

He also ordered that the American flag at the White House and at all public buildings across the nation be flown at half-staff.

Trump spoke hours after a gunman on the 32nd floor of a Vegas Strip casino unleashed a hail of bullets on an outdoor country music festival below. The gunman killed at least 50 people as tens of thousands of concertgoers screamed and ran for their lives.

More than 400 other victims were taken to hospitals, and investigators spent Monday morning combing the debris-strewn concert site along the iconic Vegas Strip.

Trump, who quoted from Scripture and invoked God several times, said he prays for the day when the “innocent are safe from hatred and from fear.”

“At times such as these I know we are searching for some type of meaning in the chaos, some kind of light in the darkness. The answers will not come easy,” the president said.

Hours earlier, he tweeted “my warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!” First Lady Melania Trump tweeted, “My heart and prayers goes out to victims, families & loved ones! #PrayForLasVegas”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that officials “are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials.” She sad that the president had spoken to the governor of Nevada, the mayor of Las Vegas and the city’s sheriff.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department said there was no “specific credible threat” involving other locations. Police have not yet determined a motive in the shootings.

SWAT teams using explosives stormed the gunman’s room in the Mandalay Bay hotel and found he had killed himself, authorities said. He had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles, they said.

The gunman was identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada. He had checked into the hotel room on Thursday, authorities said.

Since Trump’s inauguration, there have been other mass shootings, including one in Texas last month, when a gunman killed eight and was fatally shot by police. But the Las Vegas attack is the deadliest in U.S. history.

The president offered a somber response in June, after a shooting at a shooting at a congressional baseball practice that wounded five, including seriously injuring Rep. Steve Scalise. But Trump has drawn criticism for more inflammatory and self-referential reactions to other acts of violence.

After a shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando that left 49 dead in 2016, he tweeted, “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism.” In the wake of a deadly terror attack in London in June, Trump targeted the city’s mayor on Twitter, suggesting he wasn’t taking the attacks seriously enough.

After the June 2016 Orlando shooting, Trump — a presidential candidate competing in the GOP primary — called for a travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries. The Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, was born in New York to Afghan immigrants. After becoming radicalized online, he pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State group.

“The bottom line is that the only reason the killer was in America in the first place was because we allowed his family to come here,” Trump said.

And he drew sharp bipartisan criticism in August when he suggested there was blame “on both sides” during a violent clash in Charlottesville, Virginia between white supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators that left one person dead.

Unlike his predecessor, Barack Obama, who often used mass shootings to call for stricter gun control measures, Trump made no mention of firearms restrictions on Monday.

During the presidential campaign, Trump cast himself as an ardent protector of the Second Amendment and proclaimed that if more “good guys” were armed with firearms there would be fewer gun tragedies. After the Orlando nightclub shooting, he suggested that if the club wasn’t a gun-free zone, someone would have been able to stop the bloodshed.

“When I said that if, within the Orlando club, you had some people with guns, I was obviously talking about additional guards or employees,” he tweeted in the days following the attack.

Trump has long offered strong support for gun rights. Earlier this year, he signed a resolution passed by the GOP-led Congress blocking an Obama-era rule designed to keep guns out of the hands of certain mentally disabled people.

Speaking to a gathering of the National Rifle Association in April, Trump told members they have a “true friend” in the White House.

But in the hours after the Las Vegas shooting, some in Washington did call for a review of the nation’s gun laws. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said it was time for Congress to end its inaction that followed other mass shootings, including the one in Orlando and the 2012 school shooting in his home state.

AP writers: Jonathan Lemire and Catherine Lucey 

Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed reporting.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A northcentral Montana Indian tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs can’t fully account for $3.5 million primarily in federal funds, including money for a corruption-plagued water project that’s resulted in numerous convictions, according to government audits and federal officials.

The audits by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S Department of Interior examined $3.7 million for Chippewa Cree Tribe transportation programs and a $2 million contract for repairs and maintenance of the tribal water system.

In both cases, tribal leaders were unable to fully document how they spent the money or provided inadequate records to justify the spending, federal officials said. The audits stemmed from a broader investigation of tens of millions of dollars in federal payments for the Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana Rural Water system.

Inspector General’s Office spokeswoman Gillian Carroll said the money that was paid to the tribe under the contracts was used for other programs on the reservation.

“We did not look into how the money was spent in those programs, so we don’t know if any fraud was involved,” Carroll said.

Chippewa Cree Chairman Harlan Baker said Monday that the tribe planned to respond to the audit later this week. He declined further comment.

Auditors also faulted the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs for its poor oversight of the two agreements with the tribe.

A regional director for the agency approved the $2 million for the water system in 2011 despite not having the authority to do so, officials said. Chippewa Cree leaders later told federal officials that the money was spent on “appropriate expenses” related to the operation, maintenance and replacement of the reservation’s water system, but did not provide specifics, according to the audit.

“We could not ascertain whether the funds were spent appropriately with no documentation stating how the money would be or had been used,” wrote Chris Stubbs, director of audits for the inspector general.

At the time of the contract, the water system at the time was still being built, so it’s uncertain what maintenance or operational work was going on. The money for the water system came from a trust established by Congress in 2002 and funded with $15 million from the federal government and $5 million from the tribe.

Carroll said the Bureau of Indian Affairs would give the Chippewa Cree an opportunity to explain what happened to the money. If the tribe cannot do so, the agency would seek repayment, she said.

Indian Affairs spokeswoman Nedra Darling did not immediately answer questions about the contracts.

A long-running federal investigation on the tribe’s Rocky Boy’s Reservation has revealed tribal officials were given cash and gifts in return for lucrative contracts paid for with federal money. At least 20 people have been convicted on federal criminal charges brought as a result of the probe.

Associated Press writer: Matthew Brown