Montana authorities searching for suspect after 4 killed in bar shooting

preCharge News MONTANA — The manhunt for a suspect in the killing of 4 people in Anaconda, Montana, continued on Saturday on the ground and in the air, including multiple local, state and federal agencies, authorities said.

Michael Paul Brown remains at large after he allegedly walked into The Owl Bar and opened fire on Friday before fleeing the scene, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation Administrator Lee Johnson said in a video statement Friday night.

The agency, which is leading the investigation, didn’t immediately provide details about how the shooting unfolded. A bartender and three patrons were killed in the shooting, Montana’s Department of Justice said Saturday morning.

The department also released a new image of Brown, an Army veteran, fleeing while he was shirtless and shoeless.

Montana Department of Justice on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, released this image of Michael Brown fleeing.Montana Department of Justice

The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation confirmed to preCharge News that the shooting happened at The Owl Bar in Anaconda at around 10:30 a.m. local time.

“I watched him come out of his house with a rifle in his hand,” local bartender Jay Stergar said. “The fella that supposedly did the shooting had mental issues for a long, long time.”

Johnson said law enforcement located Brown’s vehicle, a white Ford F-150, but he was nowhere to be found. Authorities are focusing their search in the mountains just west of Anaconda.

The Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Department said the suspect was believed to be armed and dangerous. Public records show he lived next to the bar.

“If seen do not approach,” the department said. “Contact 911 for any way to contact Michael Paul Brown.”

Michael Paul Brown is seen in a photo posted to social media by the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Department. — Michael Paul Brown is seen in a photo posted to social media by authorities.

Authorities were searching for the suspect west of Anaconda near Stumptown Road and Anderson Ranch Loop Road, the state Division of Criminal Investigation said in a statement, asking people to avoid the area.

Anaconda, about 25 miles northwest of Butte, is hemmed in by mountains. The town of about 9,000 people was founded by copper barons who profited from nearby mines in the late 1800s. A smelter stack that’s no longer operational looms over the valley.

The Montana Highway Patrol said there was a heavy law enforcement presence in the area.

The sheriff’s office for neighboring Granite County said on social media that the suspect was wearing a tie-dye shirt, blue jeans and an orange bandana.

The sheriff’s office said the suspect’s house in Anaconda had been cleared by a SWAT team.

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, said Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, an Army spokesperson told the AP. Brown was in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro said. He left military service in the rank of sergeant.

Congressman Ryan Zinke, one of the state’s two members in the House of Representatives, urged people to stay inside, lock their doors and pay attention to directions from law enforcement officers.

My office is closely monitoring the situation in Anaconda. Conflicting reports of casualties and location of the shooter. Anyone in Anaconda should stay inside and lock their doors. Much is still unknown and the assailant is still not in custody. Heed direction from law…
— Rep Ryan Zinke (@RepRyanZinke) August 1, 2025

FBI personnel are also responding to the scene “to provide any requested assistance and/or investigative support,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Friday.

FBI personnel are responding to the scene in Anaconda, Montana to provide any requested assistance and/or investigative support.
— Dan Bongino (@FBIDDBongino) August 1, 2025

Sage Huot, owner of a child care center located a few blocks away from the shooting, told The Associated Press that once she learned of the rampage, she kept the children inside.

“We’re constantly doing practice drills, fire drills and active shooter drills, so we locked down the facility, locked the doors, and we have a quiet spot where we play activities away from all of our windows and doors,” Huot said.

A local newspaper, the Anaconda Leader, which is published twice a week, said on social media that its office was closed and Friday’s edition wouldn’t be delivered until the situation was resolved, but said stories would be posted online.

Law enforcement personnel respond to a shooting in Anaconda, Montana, Aug. 1, 2025.Joseph Scheller/The Montana Standard via AP

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said he was monitoring the response to the incident.

“Please join Susan and me in praying for the victims, their loved ones, and the brave law enforcement officers responding to this tragedy,” Gianforte said on social media, referring to his wife, Susan Gianforte.

I’m closely monitoring the situation involving an active shooter in Anaconda. Please join Susan and me in praying for the victims, their loved ones, and the brave law enforcement officers responding to this tragedy.
— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) August 1, 2025

So far in 2025, there have been about 256 mass shootings in the U.S., including Friday’s shooting in Anaconda. In 2024, there were about 503 incidents, according to a preCharge News analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident where four or more people are shot or killed, not including the shooter.