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THE man accused of storming a Montana dive bar next to his home and shooting four people dead has been arrested.
Michael Paul Brown, 45, looked stoned-faced in a mugshot taken on Friday after he was finally cuffed following a tense week-long manhunt.
His arrest came after a gunman rushed into The Owl Bar in rural Anaconda, which is on the Idaho border, and murdered four people on August 1.
The victims included a female bartender and three customers whose ages ranged from 59 to 74, Montana officials said.
Terrifying surveillance footage then captured the US military veteran fleeing the scene wearing nothing but black underwear.
Cops believe that he abandoned his car at the scene, stole another vehicle that had clothes, shoes, and camping gear, and then raced away.
Officials said this was the deadliest shooting the state has seen in over 10 years.
On Friday, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte announced that Brown had been taken into custody that afternoon.
The suspect was armed when he was cuffed about five and a half miles away from the crime scene, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said.
“One week ago today, devastation struck this small Montana community of Anaconda,” Gianforte said.
“Our brave men and women in uniform didn’t waste a second. Law enforcement jumped into action, began the search with the promise to not give up until they found this suspect.”
The governor said that over 250 law enforcement personnel sifted through the craggy mountain terrain as they “followed up on every tip.”
“They spent hours climbing over these mountains looking for this criminal,” said Gianforte.
“They used every resource available to them to search for him.”
‘FLUSHED OUT’
Brown was “flushed out” of an area that had previously been searched and cleared, the governor said.
Detectives believe the suspect drove from the bar to his house, where he stole a white Ford F-150 with new clothes inside.
He was identified as he got into the new car, but cops lost sight of him after he pulled onto a highway in front of a car that looked just like the truck, law enforcement said.
The victims have been named as Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64, Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59, David Allen Leach, 70, and Tony Wayne Palm, 74.
Cops haven’t released a possible motive for the shooting.
Brown was in the US Army from 2001 to 2005 and was deployed in Iraq during his last year of service.
He then served in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to 2009.
Clare Boyle’s full letter
Clare Boyle shared the following letter with ABC affiliate KWYB after her ungle, Michael Paul Brown, allegedly shot four people to death at a bar in Anaconda, Montana:
We don’t know much right now unfortunately apart from what the police know.. My uncle is a very mentally ill veteran. He served in the army and was sent home a sergeant. He had developed schizophrenia during his time in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then he joined the National Guard where he was not allowed to be deployed again due to his mental illness.. Mikee hasn’t been the same since he came back.. It’s been progressively worse with the passing of both parents and exceedingly worse since the trauma of my grandmas passing (his mother)… The VA turned us away stating that they weren’t able to help. The Montana state Hospital turned us away because they only accept patients who are court ordered which could not happen unless “He becomes a harm to self or others”. The system failed.. We as people failed.. Failed to report suspicious behavior because “that’s just Mikee” patrons of the bar urinating on his porch and mocking his delusions to get a rise out of him because they know it will… You deal with that long enough… With a mental illness? Horrible things are going to happen. We begged people to listen and open their eyes.. 99% of the time Mikee is harmless. You can ask almost anyone in town. If you’re not mocking his delusions or being awful towards him he is one of the best people… I don’t know what happened Thursday night to provoke this and I don’t know what happened Friday morning to push this… what I do know is no amount of words or apologies will ever be enough to express the remorse and heartbreak I personally feel for these families effected. 5 families were destroyed on Friday morning.. This town will take a long time to recover from such losses of our community… My uncle frequently suffers from delusions and “tall tales”. He mostly believes he is John Wick. Only he is sent here from the future to save the world and his family. My uncle doesn’t drink anymore or use drugs because “They block my wizard powers”.. I just want him to be found safely and receive the help we’ve been screaming for… This is a man who taught me how to ride a bike, how to fish, swim, play football and baseball. The man who drove an hour and a half to have lunch with me when I was away at college because I was home sick and didn’t want to be there anymore. He’s a human being. A very sick one at that. There are no excuses or words of defense for this awful tragedy… Mental illness does not excuse these acts and I can’t say it enough… But these acts could have been prevented with proper reporting and a healthcare system that gave a damn about its veterans and citizens.
Source: NonStop Local
MENTAL HEALTH FEARS
Shane Charles, who was one of Brown’s childhood friends, said that the suspect suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, NBC News reported.
In a statement given after the shooting, Brown’s niece Clare Boyle said, “My uncle is a very mentally ill veteran,” NBC affiliate KNDU reported.
“He had developed schizophrenia during his time in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Then he joined the National Guard, where he was not allowed to be deployed again due to his mental illness.”
The niece said, “Boyle hasn’t been the same since he came back.”
Officials haven’t revealed what charges will be filed against Brown.
