Manhunt continues for Army veteran suspected of killing 4 in Montana

The Army veteran suspected of killing four people at a Montana bar last week was still at large Sunday and may still be armed after escaping in a stolen vehicle containing clothes and camping gear, officials said.

Authorities believe 45-year-old Michael Paul Brown killed four people on Friday morning at the Owl Bar in Anaconda, Mont., about 75 miles southeast of Missoula in a valley hemmed in by mountains.

Montana Atty. Gen. Austin Knudsen said at a news conference Sunday that Brown committed the shooting with a rifle that law enforcement believes was his personal weapon.

The victims, ranging in age from 59 to 74, were a female bartender and three male patrons, Knudsen said.

Knudsen warned residents in the town of about 9,000 people that Brown, who lived next door to the bar where he was a regular, could come back to the area.

“This is an unstable individual who walked in and murdered four people in cold blood for no reason whatsoever. So there absolutely is concern for the public,” Knudsen said.

Numerous public events were canceled over the weekend as the search entered its third day, according to local Facebook pages.

Investigators are considering all possible options for Brown’s whereabouts, the attorney general said. That includes searching the woods where Brown hunted and camped while he was a kid. But Knudsen noted that, during peak tourist season in western Montana, some law enforcement officials would have to return to their local jurisdictions for their regular responsibilities.

Brown served in the Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005 and deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March 2005, according to Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, an Army spokesperson. Brown was in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro said, and left the service with the rank of sergeant.

Knudsen said Sunday that Brown was known to local law enforcement. It was widely believed that he knew at least some of the victims, Knudsen said.

Law enforcement released a photograph of Brown from surveillance video taken shortly after the fatal shootings. He appeared to be barefoot and in minimal clothing.

Authorities believe Brown ditched the vehicle he escaped in and stole a different one that had camping gear, shoes and clothes in it — leaving open the possibility that Brown is now fully clothed.

The last time that law enforcement saw Brown was Friday afternoon, but there was “some confusion” because there were multiple vehicles involved, Knudsen said.

There is a $7,500 reward for any information that leads to Brown’s capture and conviction.

“This is still Montana. Montanans know how to take care of themselves. But please, if you have any sightings, call 911,” Knudsen said.

Riddle writes for the Associated Press.