Details surface in attempted murder case

New details have surfaced concerning the Havre man who is being held on suspicion of attempted murder.

Douglas Hopf, 46, of Havre made his initial appearance Tuesday afternoon at the Hill County Detention Center.

Hopf was charged with attempted deliberate homicide, criminal endangerment and tampering with witnesses and informants.

According to a Havre Police Department press release, officers received a report the night of Sept. 29 at 11:42 p.m. concerning a man who said he had been shot at while driving on the 1600 Block of 2nd Street. According to court documents, he said he was driving his vehicle in search of his girlfriend who had reportedly not been text messaging him back.

The man said that as he was driving on the 1500 Block of 2nd Street when he heard a loud bang, which he initially believed was due to his vehicle backfiring. He then noticed the back window of his vehicle had been shattered. He kept driving while calling HPD when he noticed his front windshield had been broken as well. He then drove straight to the HPD office.

Detective Sgt. Jason Barkus was called to investigate this case the morning of Nov. 30 at around midnight. He saw the damage to the man’s vehicle.

The court documents go on to say that the suspected bullet appeared to travel through the interior cab area and exited through the front window of the vehicle.

Barkus then traveled to the 1600 Block of 2nd Street where he found a magazine from a rifle near a curb in front of 1634 2nd St., where Hopf lives.

Barkus later spoke with Hopf at the police department. Hopf said he accidentally discharged a hunting rifle when retrieving it from his vehicle that was parked in his driveway.

Several people were reportedly at Hopf’s residence at the time of the incident, including the victim’s girlfriend. Hopf said he met the victim’s girlfriend the previous night and that he knew she had a boyfriend. Hopf said the girlfriend told him that she “just wanted a drama-free night,” the court document said.

One of the visitors also said that Hopf told her to tell police that he had handed her the rifle outside and that it accidentally discharged.

Havre Police Department said that based on the information at this time, the incident appears to be directly related to the operator of the vehicle, and not a random act. This investigation continues.

Hopf was in the Hill County Detention Center this morning on $100,000 bond.