The investigation into Sunday evening’s shooting of two male juveniles outside the Sentinel High School gymnasium took a step forward on Monday afternoon as Missoula police recovered the weapon believed used in the assault.

Detective Division Captain Mike Colyer said the handgun was found by a police detective.

“The most significant development this afternoon is that we found a firearm on the campus of Sentinel High School,” said Colyer. “We believe it is probably the weapon used in the shooting last night, although we haven’t confirmed that exactly. We will continue our analysis of the firearm and see if we can confirm that.”

Colyer would not reveal the actual caliber of the handgun, but confirmed that it was a small caliber weapon. He said the crime scene has been cleared so that access to the Sentinel High School gym is now available.

The suspect, only identified as a male, is still at large, and one added piece of information from one of the victims was that the suspect was wearing a pair of red sweatpants.

Colyer said the victims remain hospitalized.

“We definitely want to talk to the victims, for sure,” Colyer said. “We will do that as their medical conditions dictate. We will continue to look for more witnesses along with any other physical evidence that becomes available.”

MCPS Superintendent Mark Thane confirmed that the victims were not MCPS students, and that there was no indication that students and staff at Sentinel High School were targets of intended violence.

 

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