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Justin Cody Paul

Age : 51

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 08/30/2025

Location : 60 Gibson Flats Road

City : Great Falls

County : Cascade

State : Montana

Agency : Cascade County Sheriff’s Office; Great Falls Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Suicide

Event : Suicide under police duress

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/30/2025, at approximately 2:43 a.m., Cascade County sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported armed home invasion at 60 Gibson Flats Road, just south of Great Falls. The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Great Falls Police Department. The man who died was later identified as 51-year-old Justin Cody Paul of Sand Coulee.
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The people inside the residence were able to leave safely while Paul remained inside. Authorities later said the incident was not random and that Paul was known to the people who lived at the residence.
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The Central Montana High Risk Unit, a regional tactical unit composed of Cascade County sheriff’s deputies and Great Falls police officers, was activated. Police surrounded the residence and repeatedly ordered Paul to come outside. Paul remained inside.
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Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter reported that several gunshots were fired inside the residence during the barricade. Police subsequently entered the home and found Paul dead. Later investigation established that none of the law-enforcement personnel at the scene fired their weapons.
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The Central Montana High Risk Unit had obtained both a search warrant and an arrest warrant for Paul before entering the residence. Because police had those warrants and had surrounded Paul before his death, Slaughter classified the incident as an in-custody death under Montana procedures.
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Because both the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and Great Falls Police Department participated in the operation, Slaughter requested outside investigation by the Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation and the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton and two deputy coroners participated in the death investigation.
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An autopsy was performed at the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula. The autopsy determined that Paul died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the official manner of death was suicide.
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Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki said a coroner’s inquest would be scheduled because the incident was classified as an in-custody death.
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Paul’s death qualifies for inclusion as suicide under police duress because he died by suicide while surrounded by law enforcement during an active armed barricade, with a tactical police unit deployed and arrest and search warrants being executed.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The individual Cascade County sheriff’s deputies and Great Falls police officers involved in the operation have not been publicly identified.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://theelectricgf.com/2025/08/30/ccso-gfpd-respond-to-armed-home-invasion-suspect-found-dead-inside/
https://www.montanarightnow.com/great-falls/suspect-dies-during-home-invasion-response-in-great-falls/article_56a42cb1-2509-4361-b849-61cab8028f4c.html

https://theelectricgf.com/2025/09/05/man-who-died-in-home-invasion-identified/

https://www.krtv.com/news/montana-and-regional-news/suspect-in-cascade-county-stand-off-identified

https://www.krtv.com/news/crime-and-courts/suspect-dead-after-armed-home-invasion