Deputy shot, wounded during arrest attempt; suspect captured on Lolo Pass after high-speed chase.

A ranch hand who shot seven people outside a tavern in Ennis early Saturday wounded a Ravalli County sheriff's deputy six hours later in Florence, then shot at a Missoula County deputy and a Highway Patrol officer before they rammed his car on U.S. 12 near the Montana-Idaho border.

At day's end, law enforcement officers from three counties were still trying to piece together what happened and why 44-year-old George H. Davis went on a shooting spree across southwestern Montana.

One man, 27-year-old James Roberts of Ennis, died in the melee outside the Silver Dollar Saloon at 2:15 a.m. Saturday. Miraculously, all of the law enforcement officers who later battled Davis in Ravalli and Missoula counties escaped with their lives.

Ravalli County Sheriff's Deputy Bernie Allestad remained in St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula on Saturday night, with a bullet wound in his shoulder. He is expected to make a full recovery.

''I think it will be a very special Father's Day for all those involved in this today,'' Hoffman said.

Madison County Attorney Robert Zenker of Ennis identified the five men and a woman from the Ennis area who were injured as Ginger Powers, 23; Mike Carroll, 24; Gavin Faulkner, 19; Isaiah Crowley, 24; Tret Setter, 21 and Mathew Ortega 22. Zenker said he did not know where they were hospitalized or their conditions.

Highway Patrolman Jason Hildenstab and Missoula County Sheriff's Deputy David Conway were treated at St. Pat's for injuries they received when they were forced to crash into Davis' car a half-mile from the top of Lolo Pass.

Both were released from the hospital Saturday afternoon.

''They are both out of the hospital and need some time with their families,'' McMeekin said. ''Families come first. They were both pretty banged up from the whole thing.''

Although they cautioned that ''everything is preliminary'' and it will likely take two or three days to sort everything out, this is the account pieced together from interviews with McMeekin, Hoffman, Ravalli County Undersheriff Kevin McConnell and Highway Patrol Capt. Mike Frellick:

Davis apparently moved to Ennis about a week ago and was working at a ranch. On Friday night, he went downtown to the Silver Dollar Saloon. Shortly before the 2:15 a.m. shooting, he was asked to leave the bar and did so.

''He allegedly was intoxicated and acting obnoxious and was asked to leave,'' Madison County Attorney Robert Zenker told the Associated Press.

As patrons headed home, Davis apparently walked up to one group and started shooting, killing Roberts and injuring five other men and one woman. There didn't seem to be any provocation, Zenker said, although police still were interviewing witnesses Saturday night.

Davis fled Ennis in a beige Ford Taurus with Ravalli County license plates, and Madison County authorities issued a statewide ''attempt to locate.'' Missoula and Ravalli counties were alerted to be extra watchful as Davis' mother apparently lives outside Hamilton.

A little after 8 a.m. Saturday, Allestad - the Ravalli County deputy - pulled over Davis for speeding and erratic driving on Highway 93 just north of the stoplight in Florence.

Not until Davis stopped did the deputy realize he had pulled over the suspect in the earlier shootings, McConnell said. By then, it was too late.

Allestad was still holding his handset, calling in the license plate, when Davis stepped out of his car. ''Rounds were coming down on our officer within seconds,'' McConnell said. '' Had he known this was the attempt-to-locate, he would not have done the traffic stop by himself.''

Davis repeatedly fired at the officer as he walked toward the patrol car, leaving a trail of shell casings on the highway and three dead-on bullet holes on the driver's side of Allestad' s windshield. Somehow, the deputy managed to get out of his car and move out of the line of fire.

The men traded gunfire as passers-by ran into nearby businesses to escape harm's way and call for help.

''People were running through the doors,'' said Dan Williamson, a cashier at the Florence Town Pump and a witness to the gun battle.

Williamson said he saw Allestad get out of the patrol car holding his right hand underneath his left armpit. He called 9-1-1 to report an officer down.

''He was half holding himself and staggering,'' said Valerie Grace, another Town Pump clerk.

Allestad was wearing body armor, but the bullet hit the edge of the vest and pierced his shoulder, Hoffman said.

After wounding the deputy, Davis got back into his car and continued driving north toward Missoula. By then, dispatchers had Hildenstab and Conway en route to Ravalli County. They spotted the Taurus coming toward them on Highway 93; as Davis passed, the officers turned around and gave chase.

When he reached Lolo, Davis turned left onto U.S. 12 and the chase became increasingly dangerous, reaching speeds of up to 120 mph ''and 100-plus on some of those curves,'' McMeekin said.

Nine miles from the Montana-Idaho border, Davis apparently jammed on his brakes; Hildenstab could not stop before his patrol car crashed into the Taurus.

Immediately, Davis began firing at both Hildenstab and, one car back, at Missoula County Deputy Conway. One shot went through the driver's side windshield of Hildenstab's car.

Now using shotguns, both officers were firing at Davis, who again got in his car and continued toward Lolo Pass. The Highway Patrol car was no longer driveable, so Hildenstab got in Conway's cruiser.

''Amazingly, there was an Idaho state trooper near the east end of the county who was able to come over the top of the pass and lay out stop strips in the road,'' McMeekin said. Davis didn't see the strip of hollow spikes and ran over them about a half-mile from the state line.

The Taurus ran off the side of the road, then skidded sideways back into the highway - broadside this time with the driver's side facing the oncoming sheriff's car. Again, Davis began firing point-blank at the officers.

''Our guys were out of options,'' McMeekin said. Their only hope was to crash into the Taurus at high speed. ''It was a split-second decision. They ran into him,'' the sheriff said.

So severe was the collision that it ripped the side off the Taurus. Davis was taken to St. Patrick Hospital by helicopter, with both a bullet wound in his abdomen and unknown injuries from the crash.

''Everything about the way these individuals responded absolutely reflected their training and professionalism,'' the sheriff said. '' The teamwork between the Highway Patrol and our office and Ravalli County was just excellent. And I am so proud of 9-1-1 and Highway Patrol dispatch. This is the kind of thing that reminds everybody just how good those folks are.''

It will take a few days for authorities to get a handle on what happened and what charges should be filed against Davis, McMeekin said. Until then, he said, Missoula sheriff' s deputies will stand guard outside the door of his hospital room.

Missoulian photographer Kurt Wilson contributed to this story, as did the Associated Press.