Standoff between police, armed woman on Bloomington’s north side ends in arrest

A five-hour standoff between Bloomington police and a woman inside a northside house on Thursday (Sept. 11) afternoon ended with her arrest on a charge of domestic violence. That’s according to a news release issued early Friday afternoon.

The woman is the older sister of a Bloomington man she’d been staying with for about a week on the 3100 block of North Kingsley Drive. Arrested at the end of the episode was Sarah Montana (34) of Arden, North Carolina.

When her 29-year-old brother arrived home on Thursday sometime before 5 p.m., Montana allegedly sprayed him with a fire extinguisher as he came up the stairs, after coming in through the garage. After breathing in the chemical vapor from the fire extinguisher, the brother fled the house and called 911.

The victim told officers he heard a loud “pop” but was not sure if his sister had shot at him, or if the sound was caused by something else. Officers were told that Montana owned several guns and possibly had them in her possession.

When officers tried to talk to Montana on the phone, she hung up on them, according to the news release. That led officers to set up a perimeter around the house.

Because officers believed Montana was armed and had possibly fired at the victim, the Bloomington police department’s critical incident response team and the crisis negotiation team were sent to the scene, the news release says.

Officers got an arrest warrant, as Montana refused to come out of the house or communicate with the negotiation team. According to the news release, a drone was used to search inside the house, and around 9:49 p.m., Montana was found in the garage of the residence armed with a shotgun.

According to the news release, Montana eventually followed commands of officers, dropped the shotgun, and was arrested without further incident.

Police later determined that the shotgun was loaded and ready to fire. Several other firearms were located throughout the residence. According to the news release, “It appeared that the suspect had strategically placed firearms in various rooms.”

Montana was booked into the Monroe County jail on a charge of domestic battery, which is a Class A misdemeanor. The news release says that no evidence was found of a gun being fired inside the house, and officers don’t know what caused the loud “pop” that the brother reportedly heard.