Man hits minor with arrow in Missoula park

At approximately 7:04 p.m. on September 15, 2022, a Missoula Police Department officer responded to the Downtown Lions Park for a report of an incident involving a bow and arrow. Initial reports indicated that a man in the park was shooting a bow, an arrow entered the backyard and hit the caller, and the man was waving a taser. Police Public Information Officer Lydia Arnold picks up the story.

“At the scene, officers located a male they recognized through previous contacts with law enforcement as Trenten Holmgren,” Arnold said. “Together with Holmgren, they observed a bow and arrow. Officers also placed a Taser on Holmgren’s person. Holmgren told officers that he was shooting for fun and that he didn’t realize the bow would shoot the arrow that far. The park where Holmgren was located is a local city park and relatively small in size.”

The officer noted that one arrow had a “field point” type tip. These types of tips are usually pointed, but not sharp, and are most commonly used for target practice. However, they are still likely to cause serious bodily injury if they hit a person in a soft tissue area without being deflected first.

The second arrow had a “broad tip” attached to it. These types of points are designed and marketed for hunting and are designed to kill animals.

“The 911 caller reported an arrow struck a minor in the foot,” Arnold said. “There were no injuries, but there was fear for being in the area where the arrows were fired. Before an arrow hit the boy in the foot, the caller told Holmgren to stop shooting arrows in the park. A witness observed that the arrow passed through the head of another minor before hitting the minor in the foot. Holmgren was arrested and taken into custody.”

Holmgren is currently being charged with one felony count of endangerment.

The information in this article was obtained from publicly viewable sources.