Michael Paul Brown: Manhunt for Montana bar shooting suspect enters fourth day as victims identified
A bartender and three patrons killed during a Montana mass shooting have been identified, while the suspected gunman remained at large on Monday.
Michael Paul Brown, a 45-year-old U.S. Army veteran, is accused of fatally shooting four people using a rifle on Friday morning at the Owl Bar in the tight-knit community of Anaconda, about 20 miles northwest of Butte.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen identified the victims on Sunday as bar attendant Nancy Kelley, 64, and customers Daniel Baillie, 59, David Leach, 70, and Tony Palm, 74.
Brown lived next door to the bar and was a regular and “likely” knew the victims, Knudsen said. “At this point, our suspect is still at large,” he added.
As the manhunt for Brown entered its fourth day, here’s what we know about the suspect and the incident.
The shooting
The gunman entered the Owl Bar on East 3rd Street Friday, with the first gunshots ringing out about 10.30 a.m., according to the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.
The gunman was believed to have used his own weapon in the shooting, Knudsen said, before he was seen fleeing the bar on security footage.
Law enforcement last had contact with the suspect at about noon during a pursuit, Knudsen said. It is believed he then fled to the nearby foothills in a stolen white Ford F-150 with camping gear inside.
Brown’s home, which public records show is next to the bar, was cleared by a SWAT team on Friday.
Authorities said Brown was wearing a tie-dye shirt, blue jeans and an orange bandana at the time of the attack. A photo released by the attorney general’s office showed Brown having removed his clothes, only wearing underwear.
Knudsen told reporters Sunday that Brown is likely wearing garments from inside the truck.
Cassandra Dutra, a bartender at the Owl Bar, told CNN that Brown would regularly visit the establishment but noted, “he wasn’t part of the camaraderie” among customers.
David Gwerder, the owner of the Owl Bar, told the AP that he was unaware of any conflicts between Brown and anyone in the establishment on Friday morning.
“He knew everybody that was in that bar. I guarantee you that,” he said, speculating that Brown “snapped.”
The victims
The fatal shooting of the four Anaconda residents on Friday has left family, friends, and the wider community in shock.
Kelley, the bartender, had spent most of her career as a nurse in Butte and Anaconda.
Kelley retired from nursing last year and began working several shifts per week at the Owl Bar as a way to socialize with other older people, her daughter Kristian Kelley told The New York Times.
“She was very skilled and very gifted at what she did,” she said.
The family of Leach, a patron at the bar, said they harbor “no ill feelings toward the suspect,” adding they “understand the mental anguish caused by veterans returning from the war with PTSD and other mental issues.”
Palm was another regular who was shot dead on Friday evening. One local resident who lives across the street from the bar told The Times that he had seen Palm there and had previously played horseshoes with him.
Details about the fourth victim, Baillie, have yet to be released.
At least one prayer vigil for the victims was set to be held for the community on Sunday evening.
“It’s just such a shock. The whole town is just heartbroken. We’re just in shock,” local resident Jill Rowles told Butte news station 4 KXLF.
The suspect
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, Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro told the Associated Press.
The suspect later joined the Montana National Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro said. He left military service in the rank of sergeant.
Brown’s niece Clare Boyle said her uncle struggled with mental health issues and was “very sick,” according to CNN. She said Brown wasn’t the same after his military service and his condition worsened after the loss of his parents.
Shane Charles knows the suspect from growing up together in Anaconda. He’s the owner of Carmel’s Sports Bar and Grill, one block away from the Owl Bar.
Charles said that Brown struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder when the suspect stops taking his medication.
The search
Knudsen said that there had been “250 boots on the ground” searching for Brown on Saturday. That number, he said, would be reduced as the search shifts to a “fugitive location operation.”
The search initially concentrated on the rugged terrain off Stumptown Road west of Anaconda, before a lockdown of the area was lifted on Saturday evening.
By Sunday evening, responders searching on foot were supported by helicopter, drone and SWAT presence, with dense brush and mountainous landscape around the town threatening to complicate search efforts.
One local resident told CNN that helicopter searches began near his home until 11 p.m. on Friday before commencing again at around 6 a.m.
Searches have expanded to include National Forest System land southwest of Anaconda, including areas where Brown reportedly hunted and camped during his youth.
The FBI, the Denver office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Granite County Sheriff’s Office were assisting with the investigation, according to Anaconda Deer-Lodge County Police Chief Bill Sather.
Authorities locked down Barker Lake and the surrounding area inside the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest Saturday afternoon, believing Brown may have fled to that zone. Campers around Georgetown Lake also remained on high alert Sunday.
“This is an unstable individual who walked in and murdered four people in cold blood for no reason whatsoever. So there absolutely is concern for the public,” Knudsen warned.
Authorities offered a $7,500 reward for information leading to the suspect.
