ANACONDA, MT - As of Tuesday, August 5th, the former U.S. soldier suspected of killing four people at a Montana bar remained at large and, according to officials, may be armed after escaping in a stolen vehicle containing clothes and camping gear.
Authorities believe that 45-year-old Michael Paul Brown killed four people on Friday, August 1st, at The Owl Bar located in a valley surrounded by mountains, 9News reported.
At a news conference on Sunday, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said that Brown committed the shooting with a rifle that law enforcement believes was his personal weapon.
Brown is still at large, according to CBS News.
Knudsen warned residents in the town that Brown, who lived next door to the bar where he was a regular, could come back to the area. "This is an unstable individual who walked in and murdered four people in cold blood for no reason whatsoever," he said. "So, there absolutely is concern for the public."
The victims ranged in age from 59 to 74 and were a female bartender and three male patrons. They have since been identified as 59-year-old Daniel Edwin Baillie, 64-year-old Nancy Lauretta Kelly, 70-year-old David Allen Leach, and 74-year-old Tony Wayne Palm.
Numerous public events were canceled over the weekend as the search for Brown entered its third day.
As law enforcement scours the wild terrain, the woods southwest of Anaconda have been closed to the public by the National Forest System. David Jabarek, 70, said that a mass shooting in a place as small as Anaconda is baffling to many.
He said that he regularly saw both the shooter and the victims over the course of the 20 years that he has lived there. "We have only 9,000 people, so it's like, what the hell just happened? Everybody knows everybody here," he said.
Investigators are considering all possible options for Brown's whereabouts, Knudsen said. That includes searching the woods where Brown hunted and camped while he was a kid.
Brown reportedly served in the Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005 and deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March 2005, said Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, an Army spokesperson.
Brown was in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro said. He left military service at the rank of sergeant. Brown's niece, Clare Boyle, said that her uncle has struggled with mental illness for years, and she and other family members repeatedly sought help.
"This isn't just a drunk/high man going wild," she said via Facebook. "It's a sick man who doesn't know who he is sometimes and frequently doesn't know where or when he is either." Shane Charles knows Brown from growing up together in Anaconda, NBC News reported.
"Mike was a great guy when he was on his meds. He did have some mental health problems," Charles said. When Brown isn't taking his medication, Charles said, he struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, and this fact is common knowledge in their small town. He said he has never seen Brown be violent, even though he has heard his friend say violent things. Charles said he never thought Brown would kill anyone, even if he were to be violent.
Knudsen said that Brown was known to local law enforcement before the shooting. He also said it was widely believed that he knew at least some of the victims, given how close he lived to the bar. Police released a photo of Brown from surveillance footage taken shortly after the fatal shootings. He appeared to be barefoot and in minimal clothing.
There is a $7,500 reward for any information that leads to Brown's capture. "This is still Montana. Montanans know how to take care of themselves. But please, if you have any sightings, call 911," Knudsen said.
Authorities believe that 45-year-old Michael Paul Brown killed four people on Friday, August 1st, at The Owl Bar located in a valley surrounded by mountains, 9News reported.
At a news conference on Sunday, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said that Brown committed the shooting with a rifle that law enforcement believes was his personal weapon.
Brown is still at large, according to CBS News.
Knudsen warned residents in the town that Brown, who lived next door to the bar where he was a regular, could come back to the area. "This is an unstable individual who walked in and murdered four people in cold blood for no reason whatsoever," he said. "So, there absolutely is concern for the public."
The victims ranged in age from 59 to 74 and were a female bartender and three male patrons. They have since been identified as 59-year-old Daniel Edwin Baillie, 64-year-old Nancy Lauretta Kelly, 70-year-old David Allen Leach, and 74-year-old Tony Wayne Palm.
Numerous public events were canceled over the weekend as the search for Brown entered its third day.
As law enforcement scours the wild terrain, the woods southwest of Anaconda have been closed to the public by the National Forest System. David Jabarek, 70, said that a mass shooting in a place as small as Anaconda is baffling to many.
He said that he regularly saw both the shooter and the victims over the course of the 20 years that he has lived there. "We have only 9,000 people, so it's like, what the hell just happened? Everybody knows everybody here," he said.
Investigators are considering all possible options for Brown's whereabouts, Knudsen said. That includes searching the woods where Brown hunted and camped while he was a kid.
Brown reportedly served in the Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005 and deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March 2005, said Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, an Army spokesperson.
Brown was in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro said. He left military service at the rank of sergeant. Brown's niece, Clare Boyle, said that her uncle has struggled with mental illness for years, and she and other family members repeatedly sought help.
"This isn't just a drunk/high man going wild," she said via Facebook. "It's a sick man who doesn't know who he is sometimes and frequently doesn't know where or when he is either." Shane Charles knows Brown from growing up together in Anaconda, NBC News reported.
"Mike was a great guy when he was on his meds. He did have some mental health problems," Charles said. When Brown isn't taking his medication, Charles said, he struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, and this fact is common knowledge in their small town. He said he has never seen Brown be violent, even though he has heard his friend say violent things. Charles said he never thought Brown would kill anyone, even if he were to be violent.
Knudsen said that Brown was known to local law enforcement before the shooting. He also said it was widely believed that he knew at least some of the victims, given how close he lived to the bar. Police released a photo of Brown from surveillance footage taken shortly after the fatal shootings. He appeared to be barefoot and in minimal clothing.
There is a $7,500 reward for any information that leads to Brown's capture. "This is still Montana. Montanans know how to take care of themselves. But please, if you have any sightings, call 911," Knudsen said.
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