Attempted homicide trial set for Havre man

The trial date has been set for a Havre man who allegedly aimed to kill when he shot out the rear window of his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend’s truck as it drove through a residential neighborhood in Havre.

Douglas Hopf, 46, has been ordered to appear for trial June 24 to answer to charges of the attempted deliberate homicide of T.R. Olson.

According to court documents, on the night of Nov. 29, Olson had been following a green Chevrolet Avalanche carrying his ex-girlfriend’s teenage daughter and driven by Sue Freeman. Freeman and the teenager parked near Hopf’s residence in a trailer park on the east end of Havre and were seen by Olson entering Hopf’s home as Olson drove 2nd Street.

Olson had just entered the intersection past Hopf’s house when he allegedly heard a loud boom that he initially thought was from a “heavy duty firearm or firework.” The back window of Olson’s pickup shattered, with a one-inch wide bullet hole passing through both the rear window and windshield on the passenger side — right at head level. Olson was not injured in the incident.

In searching the neighborhood near Hopf’s house, police found a rifle magazine on the ground near the truck Olson had been following. During questioning, Hopt admitted to discharging a hunting rifle accidentally while retrieving it from this vehicle parked in the driveway of his residence on 2nd Street. Hopf maintained that the shot from his rifle was an accident, even when confronted with the fact that investigators had found a rifle magazine just a short distance from his vehicle, and the fact that his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend was the one whose vehicle had been struck by the suspected bullet.

According to court documents, a friend of the teenage daughter who was allegedly in Hopf’s house at the time of the shooting told investigators that after the shooting occurred, Hopf re-entered his house and said to the at least seven other people assembled there, “I just hit the back window.”

Hopf also allegedly added, “I’m not afraid to hurt somebody and like shoot somebody. ... I was in the military.”

The teenager’s friend also said that when the police came to Hopf’s door, he didn’t want to answer it.

Hopf has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted deliberate homicide, felony criminal endangerment and felony tampering with witnesses.