Manhunt for Montana bar shooter who killed 4 is state's highest priority, governor says

CBS News

2 days ago

As the search for Michael Paul Brown stretched into its fifth day, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed an executive order freeing up more resources for local law enforcement to aid the manhunt for the former U.S. soldier suspected of killing four people at a bar.
More than three dozen law enforcement agencies are helping with the search effort in a mountainous area near Anaconda, where the deadly shooting occurred last week. Montana's top officials described it during a news conference as the highest priority in the state.
A team with the Montana National Guard has flown nearly 20 hours since last Friday, looking for any clues for Brown's whereabouts as an undisclosed number of officers searched on foot.
"Rest assured, our brave men and women of law enforcement aren't giving up, and I ask that you not give up on them either," Gianforte said.
Authorities say Brown, 45, fatally shot four people at The Owl Bar in the small town of Anaconda with a rifle that police believe was his personal weapon. He fled in a white pickup that he later ditched and stole another white vehicle stocked with clothes, shoes and camping supplies.
A female bartender and three male patrons were killed. They have been identified as Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64; Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74.
The shooting rattled the tight-knit town of about 9,000 people, and many residents remain on high alert with the suspect still at large.
Cassandra Dutra, a former bartender at The Owl Bar, told CBS News that she remembers Brown would say things she thought were strange, like he thought the CIA was coming for him. She likened the bar to the hit TV show "Cheers" where everyone knows each other's name and drink order.
Over the weekend, authorities released a photo of Brown, said to be taken as he fled after the shooting. He was barefoot and wearing nothing but black shorts, and he was seen walking down what appeared to be a flight of outdoor concrete steps. Investigators said Brown fled in a white pickup, which he ditched at some point. They also said they believe Brown abandoned that vehicle and stole a different one that had camping gear, shoes and clothes in it.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen reiterated Tuesday that authorities are operating under the assumption that Brown is armed and extremely dangerous.
Without providing more details, Knudsen said there's evidence that authorities are searching in the right area. About 22 square miles of forest southwest of Anaconda have been closed to the public by the National Forest System as the search continues. Knudsen added that it does not appear that Brown has broken into any cabins or homes in the area to get food or additional supplies.
Knudsen and investigators declined to share the number of law enforcement personnel active in the search Tuesday. Canine detection units and drones equipped with heat-detection technology were also being used in the search, they said.
"It's important that you know that we are doing everything we can to keep Anacondans safe," Anaconda Deer Lodge County Chief of Police Bill Sather said Monday in a brief update. "If there is a need to convey a security risk, other than has already been said, we will make sure that you know."
Federal authorities were offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any information leading to Brown's capture.
Family members have said Brown has struggled with mental illness for years, and they had sought help for him.
Kristian Kelley, the daughter of one of the victims, told CBS News she knows who Brown is, but her mother "had never mentioned him."
"He was somebody that needed some serious resources. He had some mental health issues as well as PTSD from being in the military," Kelley said. "I've never known him to be violent. He was a person who would tell pretty strange stories and different things like that."
Brown, who lived next door to The Owl Bar, served in the Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005 and deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March 2005. He also was in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to 2009.Amanda Arden
contributed to this report.