Authorities continue to search a mountainous area of western Montana for an ex-military man accused of fatally shooting four people at a local bar.
Michael Paul Brown, 45, remained at large as of Saturday afternoon following the shocking incident in the small town of Anaconda Friday morning. He is believed to be armed and “extremely dangerous,” police said previously.
Brown fled in a white pickup truck after allegedly opening fire in The Owl Bar, but ditched the vehicle at some point after, according to Lee Johnson, administrator of the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.
The suspect was last seen near Stump Town, west of Anaconda. More than a dozen officers are in the area and appear to be searching for him in the woods.
A spokesperson for the Granite County Sheriff’s Office told The Independent that searches were continuing throughout Saturday and that a press briefing would be scheduled as necessary.
Authorities also released a photo of Brown, barefoot and shirtless, walking down what appeared to be a flight of outdoor concrete steps. The photo showed Brown, wearing black shorts, fleeing after the shooting Friday, according to the Division of Criminal Investigation.
He had previously been wearing a “tie dyed shirt, blue jeans and an orange bandana,” the sheriff’s office said.
“While law enforcement has not received reports of Brown harming any other individuals, he is believed to be armed, and he is extremely dangerous,” Johnson told the AP.
Authorities said they would release the names of the victims once all of their families have been notified. However the bar’s owner confirmed that a bartender and three patrons had been killed in the incident.
David Gwerder, who wasn’t there during the shooting, said that Brown had lived next door to the bar, and was known there – though he added he was not aware of any conflicts between the alleged shooter and his victims.
“He knew everybody that was in that bar. I guarantee you that,” Gwerder said. “He didn’t have any running dispute with any of them. I just think he snapped.”
Police have yet to establish a motive, though Brown’s niece, Clare Boyle, told the AP on Friday that her uncle had struggled with mental illness for years and that she and her other family members repeatedly sought help.
“This isn’t just a drunk/high man going wild,” she wrote in a Facebook message. “It’s a sick man who doesn’t know who he is sometimes and frequently doesn’t know where or when he is either.”
Brown served in the U.S. Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005 and deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March 2005, according to Lieutenant Colonel Ruth Castro, an Army spokesperson. Brown was in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro said. He left military service with the rank of sergeant.
The town of Anaconda, about 25 miles northwest of Butte, has a population of only around 9,000 people.
“This is a small tight-knit community that has been harmed by the heinous actions of one individual who does not represent what this community or Montanans stand for,” Johnson added.
