Downtown Shooter Gets Charged With Attempted Deliberate Homicide

Just before 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, several Missoula Police officers on patrol downtown heard gun shots. Another unit then advised a person had been injured. An officer saw a group of individuals running northbound on Ryman and they said that the suspect was eastbound in the alley just north of the parking garage across from the Bodega Bar. The group of individuals advised that their friend had been shot. The officer saw that a male had a bullet wound on the back of his upper left thigh and blood on his shorts. The group pointed in the direction of a male in front of the Badlander bar, stating he was the shooter.

In front of the Badlander, there was a male dressed all in black with a backpack walking toward another male. The male in black was reaching into his right pocket and refused commands to stop. An officer ran at the black-dressed male and took him to the ground. There was a butt of a handgun sticking out of his pocket. The gun was removed and secured. The male in black was identified as 23-year-old Grason Lamb.

The victim was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital where an officer was able to speak with him. The victim said he and his friends heard someone yelling outside the bar and saw Lamb pull a gun from his pants, fire it once toward the ground and then he started shooting in their direction where the group was standing. The victim said he had never met Lamb before.

An officer located spent shell casings in the alley across from the shooting and an impact location of a bullet on the exterior wall of the Bodega Bar. The officer also located a bullet that appeared to have blood and human tissue on it.

Lamb was Mirandized and agreed to speak with police. Detectives asked Lamb if he would consent to a swab of his hands for gunshot residue. Lamb stated that he had gone shooting earlier in the day and did not consent.

Lamb said that approximately two weeks prior he was assaulted by a Bodega bouncer. The owner of Bodega later confirmed that Lamb and a bouncer had been in a fight several weeks earlier. In the conversation, Lamb kept coming back to his dislike of the Bodega and the bouncer he had been in an altercation with. Lamb stated that he had been drinking that night at several bars, but could not remember anything for approximately 25 to 30 minutes before he was taken into custody by law enforcement.

Law enforcement obtained video surveillance from the Missoula Parking Commission showing the parking garage where the shooting took place. Lamb is seen walking past the blocked off entrance to the parking garage and drawing his gun, holding it with two hands and shooting it in the direction of the Bodega Bar. He then walks northbound out of view.

Surveillance from Red’s Bar also shows Lamb shooting toward the Bodega Bar. Lamb uses a two-hand grip on the gun when he first fires. He then walks north on Ryman, stops at the alley, and fires the weapon one handed at an upward angle.

Court documents indicate Lamb is currently being charged with one count of attempted deliberate homicide and three counts of felony criminal endangerment.