Homeless Shelter Resident Threatens Another Resident With a Knife

On Monday, a Missoula County Sheriff’s Office Deputy was dispatched to the Safe Outdoor Homeless Camp. It was reported that 27-year-old Tristian Mcvey had threatened another resident at the camp with a knife. When the deputy arrived, he was approached by a staff member and the resident who had been threatened.

The resident said he has known Mcvey for several months and never had any problems with him until the last couple of days. The resident was cooking a meal for other residents on the camp barbeque when Mcvey came up to him and called him several names. Mcvey then punched the resident in the left shoulder multiple times.

The resident told Mcvey to go away and leave him alone, but Mcvey kept challenging him to fight. Finally, the resident grabbed Mcvey by the shoulders and threw him away. The resident again told Mcvey to leave him alone and go away. Mcvey then made a statement similar to, “I’ve got a knife on me.” The resident turned around and noticed Mcvey was holding a knife in his right hand in a fighting stance.

As they were yelling at each other, a staff member stepped in front of Mcvey and attempted to talk him into putting away the knife. Mcvey was very upset, and it took the staff member a few minutes to convince him to put the knife back in his pocket. The resident then walked away from the situation and waited until law enforcement arrived. As he was walking away, Mcvey yelled something like, “I’m going to burn you down in your sleep”.

At some point during the argument, the staff member heard Mcvey yelling something like “you don’t think I’ll cut you”. The resident said he was not sure if Mcvey would actually use the knife on him, but he was scared for his safety. The resident stated he was glad the staff member stepped in so he could walk away from the situation.

Mcvey was charged with one count of felony assault with a weapon. This isn’t this first time Mcvey has been arrested for an incident at a homeless shelter. On April 18, 2020, Mcvey was arrested for assault with a weapon at the Poverello Center, despite having been trespassed from there. He allegedly attempted to assault an employee who told him to leave and also used a baton to smash out the driver side window of a yellow cab.