As of the latest available data, on August 8, police arrested 45-year-old Michael Paul Brown. This occurred only a week after the horrific mass shooting at The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Montana. Just a couple weeks later on August 1th a derailing, which took the lives of four of the residents in this town. Theirs is a community today shocked and mourning.
Michael Paul Brown sitting in front of The Owl Bar. He supposedly started shooting there, resulting in the fatal shootings of Daniel Edwin Ballie, 59, Nancy Lauretta Kelly, 64, David Allen Leach, 70, and Tony Wayne Palm, 74. Nancy Kelly, a bartender at the bar, and its three patrons were all prominent figures in the Anaconda community.
Brown was an active duty Army armor crewman from 2001-2005. He left for basic training the day after his high school graduation and was then deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March of 2005. After finishing his active duty, Watkins became a member of the Montana National Guard. He worked there from 2006 until March 2009, eventually attaining the rank of sergeant before departing. Yet, despite his service, Brown’s family shared that he was tormented by mental illness for decades, even before his time in the military. His niece, Clare Boyle, said that family had long tried to get help for him.
The manhunt for Brown after the shooting led to an extensive, coordinated effort from SBALEJ law enforcement agencies across the state. He applauded the statewide response, calling it an “incredible” effort to find and catch Brown.
“I am proud of the unrelenting law enforcement effort this week to find and arrest Michael Paul Brown,” said Austin Knudsen, the Attorney General of Montana.
After the tragedy, Governor Gianforte offered his condolences to the families of the victims.
“May God continue to be with the families of the four victims still grieving their loss,” he added.
The victims were all Anaconda residents and were honored to be role models and leaders in their community. As federal and state authorities continue to examine Brown’s mental health issues, they’ll explore how these challenges could have impacted the decisions he made amidst the chaos of the shooting.