Search for suspect in fatal Montana bar shooting stretches into second day

Authorities in Montana were still searching Saturday afternoon for an Army veteran who they say opened fire inside a neighborhood bar a day earlier, killing four in what an official described as a senseless act of violence.

The suspect, Michael P. Brown, 45, fled into the rural foothills after the attack at the Owl Bar in the small town of Anaconda on Friday morning, officials said. They were searching an area west of the town after finding an abandoned white pickup truck nearby that they initially said he was driving. By Saturday, they said the pickup truck they towed had not been involved in the shooting after all, and it was unclear how the suspect fled. The finding did not appear to affect the search area.

Residents and business owners in Anaconda, a former copper smelting town near Butte in Deer Lodge County, were told to go about their business in town Saturday, but with caution. Stores and restaurants were closed Friday but reopened Saturday, though the streets were somewhat quiet.

“I feel kind of numb,” said Doug Kerr, who was out with his dog, Ellie, on Saturday. He recently moved to the area from Dallas after having fallen in love with Anaconda’s small-town atmosphere. “You can walk around and everybody knows the name of your dog.”

Relatives of Brown said he had long been dealing with mental illness, including diagnosed schizophrenia. A sister who spoke on the condition that her name not be used said that he was so paranoid, he refused to own a cellphone.

Lee Johnson, who leads the state’s Division of Criminal Investigation, said Friday that all four victims had been identified, but he did not name them. On Saturday, officials said a bartender and three patrons had been killed.

“This is a small, tight-knit community that’s been harmed by the heinous actions of one individual today, who does not represent what this community – or Montanans – stand for,” Johnson said.

The killings occurred about 10:30 a.m. local time Friday. Witnesses said they heard gunshots in the bar. Brown was well known around Anaconda, and social media posts show he had been to the establishment before. A photo provided by the Division of Criminal Investigation on Saturday taken from security camera footage Friday showed a gaunt man, shirtless and in dark shorts, walking barefoot down a set of stairs, apparently leaving the bar.

Records show that Brown lived two houses down from the Owl Bar, a local dive with a pool table, a clutter of decorations and a sign out front that boasts the “best tap beer in town.” On Saturday, the bar was cordoned off with yellow police tape. Someone had placed two small bouquets of flowers against a lamppost outside.

Brown joined the Army in January 2001 and began service in Iraq in 2004 before leaving in May 2005 as a sergeant, an Army spokesperson said. He was in the Montana National Guard for about two years until March 2008.

Two relatives of Brown said he had returned from the Army with physical ailments and severe post-traumatic stress disorder that gave him night terrors. They also said he was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder in addition to schizophrenia.

The sister said that she and other family members had tried to get help for Brown from the Department of Veterans Affairs but that little could be done without his cooperation.

One of Brown’s other siblings, William, was convicted of homicide in 2001, according to public records and to the sister. The two brothers have not talked in years, she said, in part because Michael Brown did not have a cellphone. William Brown, who was sentenced to more than 100 years, remains in prison, according to a Montana Department of Corrections database.

Local, state and federal agents were continuing their pursuit on foot, in vehicles and by helicopter in a region known for its brushy terrain that made the search more difficult.

“The guy could be 20 feet from us and we wouldn’t know,” said Dan Sletton, who lives near Stumptown Road west of the town, where the suspect was last seen.

The search remained focused on the Stumptown Road area Saturday, officials said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.