Four people were fatally shot in a Montana Bar Friday. Authorities are still on the lookout for the suspected gunman. The harrowing incident took place at 10:30 am (US time ) at The Owl Bar in Anaconda. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte initially sounded the alarm on X, saying he is “closely monitoring the situation involving an active shooter” in the area. Meanwhile, Congressman Ryan Zinke urged people in the vicinity of the bar to “stay inside and lock their doors.”
Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Center has since identified and named the US shooting suspect as a 45-year-old man named Michael Paul Brown, calling him “armed and dangerous.” Even SWAT teams and the FBI were mobilised for the suspected shooter’s manhunt. Authorities have also released a photo of the man believed to carried out the attack.
What do we know about Michael Paul Brown, the suspected Montana shooter?
Public records quoted by US reports suggested that Brown lives right next to The Owl Bar, the site of the shooting tragedy. Although details about the investigation have yet to be uncovered, the unprecedented is believed to have broken out just half an hour after the bar opened at 10 am.
According to police, Michael Paul Brown is wearing a tie-dyed shirt, blue jeans and an orange bandana. He was last spotted driving away from the location in a 2007 white Ford F-150 pickup truck with Montana license plates DTY493.
As relayed by the Granite County Sheriff’s Office, a SWAT team ransacked Brown’s house after the shooting attack early Friday. “Suspect is Michael Paul Brown and was last seen in the stumptown area. Public is advised to stay out of the stumptown area and surrounding areas. If seen do not approach. Contact 911 for any way to contact Michael Paul Brown,” authorities informed via social media, noting that the alleged shooter is armed.
Neither the victims of the incident nor a motive was revealed by the officials at the time of writing. The FBI, the Denver office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Granite County Sheriff’s Office have joined forces in assisting with the investigation related to the Montana tragedy.
UPDATE: Montana shooting suspect was a US soldier
An Army spokesperson, Lt Col Ruth Castro, revealed that Brown was an armor crewman in the US Army from 2001 to 2005. He was deployed to Iraq from early 2005 until March 2005. The suspect even served in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to March 2009. At the time he left his post, he was in the rank of sergeant.
Meanwhile, bar owner David Gwerder disclosed that the deceased victims of the Friday tragedy were a bartender and three patrons. As per his account, Michael Paul Brown “knew everybody that was in that car. The owner also remarked, “He didn’t have any running dispute with any of them. I just think he snapped.”
US shootings in 2025
As of August 1, Montana bar shooting marks the 256th mass shooting in 2025, according to CNN‘s Gun Violence Archive report. Just this past week has seen several such heart-rending incidents.
July 27 alone became a day of multiple spine-chilling headlines with shootings happening in Indianapolis, Flint (Michigan), Chicago, Mount Vernon and Denver. The following days resulted in shocking coverage emerging from Atlanta, Detroit, New York and Reno. Thereafter, July 30 registered shootings in Philadelphia and Atlanta, followed by the Anaconda incident this Friday.