Helena man arrested after shooting woman

Officers were called at 9:32 p.m. Friday by someone who reported a woman had been shot near Prospect Avenue and North Washington Street, authorities said in an email.

Helena police found the 42-year-old woman sitting inside a vehicle. She suffered a gunshot wound and officers attempted to save her life, but she was pronounced dead after being taken by ambulance to a hospital, authorities said. She has not been identified.

Deputy Police Chief Cory Bailey said the suspect, Kenneth William Greene, 62, of Helena, was spotted by officers around 7:30 a.m. Saturday and arrested. He was being held at the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of willful homicide and violating his probation.

Friday evening, Greene fled the scene before officers arrived, authorities said. Witnesses provided a description of the suspect as well as a partial description of the vehicle in which he left. Officers then located the vehicle and seized it as evidence.

One of the witnesses said Greene wore an ankle bracelet while being monitored by Probation and Parole, police said. Probation and parole officers told officers he cut his ankle bracelet.

According to the Montana Department of Corrections website, Greene was convicted of assault with a weapon in 2022 in Custer County and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The website said he had “absconded from Helena's probation and parole.”

Police said this incident was not a random act of violence and was an isolated event, meaning the victim was Greene's target.

The Helena Police Department was assisted by the Lewis and Clark Sheriff's Office, the Montana Highway Patrol and the State of Montana Probation and Parole.

No further information is immediately available.