Day 2 manhunt for US Army vet. accused of killing 4 in Montana bar: authorities

The gunman who allegedly opened fire in a Montana bar and killed four people is a US Army veteran who was photographed leaving the scene wearing nothing but black underpants, authorities revealed.

The manhunt for Michael Paul Brown is on its second day after authorities say he opened fire around 10:30 a.m. Friday in The Owl Bar in the small town of Anaconda, located about 25 miles northwest of Butte.

Brown, 45, escaped down a stone staircase wearing black, brief-style underwear, according to a new surveillance image released by the Montana Department of Justice.

David Gwerder, the bar’s owner, said it’s also likely that Brown – who lived next door to the watering hole – knew the three patrons and the bartender, all of whom he’s accused of killing. 

“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.” 

The victims’ names have not been publicly identified. 

Following the shooting, Brown drove off in a white pickup truck but later ditched it, ABC 7 reported, citing Montana Division of Criminal Investigation Administrator Lee Johnson. 

“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 said, according to the outlet.

“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 of Montanans stand for,” he continued. 

As reports of the shooting circulated around the town Friday, its less than 10,000 residents took refuge behind locked doors.

With no sign of Brown in his vehicle or home, authorities converged by ground and air, and put the Stumptown Road area located just west of Anaconda on lockdown.

Officers from local, state and federal agencies were focusing on the same search area Saturday morning, said Chase Scheuer, a spokesperson for the Treasure State DOJ.

On Saturday afternoon, Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Police Chief Bill Sather thanked local residents for their patience during “this very stressful and tragic time” and expressed condolences to the victims’ friends and family.

“We are doing everything we can to find and bring this perpetrator to justice,” Sather said in a video posted to the department’s Facebook page. “It’s okay to go about your business in town, but please use caution…if you see anything suspicious, please call 911.”

Brown served in the Army as an armor crewman from January 2001 to May 2005, and was deployed to Iraq for just over a year during that period, said Army spokesperson Maj. Dustin Ramos. 

He was a member of the National Guard from April 2006 to March 2008, and left the service in the rank of sergeant, according to Ramos. 

Brown struggled with mental health issues in the years leading up to the shooting while relatives desperately sought help for him, said Brown’s niece, Clare Boyle. 

“This isn’t just a drunk/high man going wild,” she wrote in a Facebook message to the outlet. “It’s a sick man who doesn’t know who he is sometimes and frequently doesn’t know where or when he is either.” 

Boyle, who didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, doubled down in a public Facebook post Friday night. 

“While you’re all out here talking about things we’re uncertain of. There is one thing I’m certain of. Mental health is real. And it goes unmanaged and dismissed every single day,” she wrote.

“There are people who search for help and get turned away at every stop along the path. There are people who cry for help and show DEFINITE warning signs of crash out,” Boyle continued.

“The system is broken. The system fails us. When our veterans gets turned away seeking mental health help because ‘We can’t help unless it’s a harm to self or others.’ It’s heartbreaking.” 

Gwerder and Johnson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

With Post wires