A bar shooting in Anaconda, Montana, on the 1st killed four people, and the suspect remains at large. Local police and state troopers continued their search in the nearby mountains on the 2nd. The Montana Highway Patrol believes the suspect is armed.
The Associated Press and other media outlets reported that the incident occurred around 10:30 a.m. on the 1st. The suspect suddenly entered The Owl Bar and shot a bartender and three patrons before fleeing. The four people died on the scene. The bar owner later stated that he did not know whether the suspect had a conflict with any of the victims.
Police said that the suspect, 45-year-old Michael Paul Brown, a veteran who lived next door to the bar, fled in his car after the attack and was last seen in Stump Town, west of Anaconda. He is believed to have abandoned his car there and walked into the mountains.
Lee Johnson, the head of the Montgomery State Police Criminal Investigation Division, who is in charge of the case, released a photo at a press conference the next day showing the suspect, barefoot and shirtless, wearing black shorts, walking down what appears to be an outdoor set of concrete stairs.
Johnson said that while law enforcement has not yet received any reports of Brown assaulting anyone, they believe he is armed and extremely dangerous.
Anaconda, surrounded by mountains and with a population of approximately 9,000, was founded by a copper mining magnate in the late 19th century. A defunct smelter chimney still stands within the town.
More than a dozen local police officers and state troopers continued the search operation on the 2nd, cordoning off the mountainous area and prohibiting entry and exit. A helicopter circled the nearby mountainside for a search.
A US Army spokesperson confirmed that Brown served in the Army from 2001 to 2005 as an armored trooper. He deployed to Iraq from early 2004 to March 2005. After retiring with the rank of sergeant, he served in the Montgomery National Guard from 2006 to March 2009. Brown’s niece, Clare Boyle, said her uncle had been battling mental illness for years, and she and other family members had sought help from authorities several times. She wrote in a Facebook post, “There were times when he didn’t know who he was, and often he didn’t know where he was or when.”
