Authorities are in their second day of a search for the man they say shot and killed four people at a bar in Montana. Police identified the suspect in the shooting that happened at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 1, in The Owl Bar as Michael Brown, 45, of Anaconda.
The Associated Press wrote that authorities were in a mountainous area of western Montana on Saturday, Aug. 2, as they looked for Brown, a United States Army Veteran.
After the shooting, Brown fled the Owl Bar in a white pickup truck he later ditched. The AP wrote that Lee Johnson, administrator of the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, said Brown is believed to be armed and dangerous.
Anaconda Deer-Lodge County Police Chief Bill Sather said on Saturday, Aug. 2, that it’s OK for residents to go about “your business in town, but please use caution, and if you see anything suspicious, please call 911.”
“Myself and the Anaconda police department and fire departments want to express our condolences to the family and the friends of the four individuals who lost their lives yesterday,” Sather said. “The impact of a loss like this is felt far and wide in a community like ours.”
Authorities said at a press conference on Sunday, Aug. 3 that those who died in the shooting are: Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64; Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74, according to KRTV.
Suspect in shooting identified
An Army spokeswoman told the New York Times that Brown joined the force in January 2001, serving in Iraq from 2004-2005. He left the Army in May 2005 as a sergeant, then was a part of the Montana National Guard until March 2008.
The Montana Department of Justice confirmed that Brown lived next to The Owl Bar.
Two relatives of Brown’s who spoke to the New York Times said he had long been suffering from mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, he also suffered from physical ailments, they said.
Brown’s sister said she and her family tried to get Brown assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but ” little could be done without his cooperation,” per the Times.
