Friday, October 16, 2009
Police shooter was a Montana State Prison guard
Posted by Jessica Mayrer on Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 3:31 PM
A 28-year old man with a violent criminal record who is facing attempted murder charges for shooting at a Missoula police officer worked as a corrections officer at the Montana State Prison.
Timothy J. Hoppe remains in the Missoula County Jail on $250,000 bail after an Oct. 7 incident, during which he allegedly fired a rifle in the direction of Missoula Police officer Robert Campbell.
Hoppe, who has a Department of Corrections (DOC) employment record dating back to 2003, was charged in 2005 with felony assault with a weapon for cutting a man with a knife during an altercation in front of the Pita Pit in Downtown Missoula, according to court records. He was also charged with two counts of assault for kicking two men during the same fight.
Hoppe later pleaded to and was found guilty of three misdemeanors for the incident and was subsequently sentenced to drug and alcohol testing, a fine and anger management classes, according to records on file with the Missoula Justice Court.
Hoppe did a five-month stint as a prison guard in 2003 and was rehired in July of this year, before leaving again in September, according to DOC spokesman Bob Anez.
Anez says DOC conducted a background check, but employment candidates are not automatically excluded based on prior misdemeanors. The department now plans on reevaluating its screening process, according to Anez. “We’re going to take a look at that again,” he says.
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