Man fatally shot while assaulting woman in Billings Heights

BILLINGS – Police said Tuesday a man who was fatally shot at a Billings Heights residence was killed while assaulting a woman.

The fatal shooting happened shortly after 4 a.m. Monday at a residence in the 300 block of Nash Lane. Officers found 43-year-old Robert Aven Kolter from Roundup who had been shot. He died after being taken to the hospital.

In a press release Tuesday, police said investigators determined that Kolter had traveled from Roundup to see a 33-year-old woman who was staying at the Heights property. The two were in a relationship, police said.

A 34-year-old Billings man was living in a separate building on the property, police said.

Prior to the shooting, Kolter was assaulting the woman, police said. The woman was strangled and pistol whipped and Kolter tried to force her to leave with him.

When Kolter put a gun to the woman’s head, the 34-year-old man who lived there shot him, police said. The names of the woman and the 34-year-old man have not been released.

The investigation is ongoing, police said, and no arrests have been made.