Charges are pending in the March 16 shooting in the 700 block of 17th Avenue South.

Dustin Jay Steele, 43, is the suspect in the case and is currently not ambulatory in the hospital, according to Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki.

Steele is not yet in custody since once a person is in custody, the county is responsible for the cost of their medical care and supervision.

Around 7:50 p.m. March 16, Great Falls Police officers were dispatched to a mobile home court on the block to investigate a family disturbance.

Upon their arrival, “the situation rapidly escalated into a violent encounter,” according to the GFPD.

Lt. Matt Fleming of GFPD said that within minutes of responding, officers became involved in an incident that involved gunshots.

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Racki said that Steele exited the residence with what looked like a firearm and pointed it at officers.

Racki’s office will charge Steele with two counts of assault on a peace officer, among other pending charges.

Several officers were involved in the incident but none had injuries needing immediate medical treatment, Fleming said.

There was no further threat to the community.

Fleming said that GFPD requested assistance from the Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.

Steele was released from federal prison in August 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons database.

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He had been serving a sentence on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to federal court documents.

In that case, he was sentenced in 2014 to a total of 135 months in federal prison with four years of supervision to follow.

Steele started his supervision period in January 2024 and by June 2024 had violations filed in federal court.

In June 2024, his probation officer wrote “the defendant has been incarcerated most of his adult life. In the past, the defendant did not care about anybody or himself and did what he wanted, regardless of the consequences. Since being
on supervision and for the first time in his life, he obtained a checking account, received his driver’s license and purchased a car in his name. The defendant reports he recently went through a break-up with his girlfriend and was struggling. He will re-engage with his mental health counselor and will see Teresa Mouser for mental health counseling. The defendant will continue to be drug tested on a random basis. At this time, it is respectfully recommended the defendant’s release be continued. Any further violations will be immediately reported to the court.”

In November 2024, a federal judge remanded Steele back to federal prison for 12 months.

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In that case, Steele and Christopher James Michelotti employed other people in Great Falls  in 2013 to sell methamphetamine for them and at one point one man owned Michelotti about $700 for a drug debt, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In August 2013, Michelotti and Steele began looking for the man and the money. The man agreed to meet Michelotti in a restaurant parking lot, but found him and Steele, who forces the man into a blue Chevy pickup and demanded the money. Steele had a handgun and Michelotti wore brass knuckles with a knife, according to court documents.

Michelotti and Steele picked up another man at a local casino who also had a drug debt.

The first man said he could get money from his girlfriend and after the men left her house, she alerted police to the kidnapping.

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The man who’d been picked up at the casino escaped and Steele called a friend to come pick them up, saying they were running from the cops and had hostages, according to court documents.

Police located the truck and arrested Steele and Michelotti, finding a backpack with meth and a stolen gun. Detectives also searched a known stash house used by Michelotti, finding more meth.

In 2003, Steele was sentenced in federal court on a charge of unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm. In the case, the drug being used was meth, according to court records.