Montana bar shooting suspect arrested after week-long manhunt

ANACONDA, Mont. – The suspect in a fatal quadruple homicide at an Anaconda, Montana bar was arrested Friday after a week-long manhunt.

Michael Paul Brown, a 45-year-old Army veteran who has been on the loose for a week since allegedly killing four people at The Owl Bar, was taken into custody early in the afternoon about five-and-a-half miles from the crime scene. He was nabbed just west of Anaconda near a barn on private property. The property stands adjacent to The River Bar, another local watering hole. 

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte held a press conference outside the Deer Lodge County Courthouse, next to the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Police Department, where Brown had been booked earlier in the day. 

“Our brave men and women in law enforcement didn’t waste a second,” he said. “They jumped into action and began the search with the promise to not give up until they found this suspect. Today I am grateful to report that Michael Brown has been apprehended, arrested and is in custody.”

MONTANA FUGITIVE’S BROTHER SERVING LIFE SENTENCE FOR SEPARATE MURDER CONVICTION IN SAME TOWN

Gianforte extended prayers to the families of the four victims of the bar massacre before Attorney General Austin Knudsen spoke. 

“This really is an unprecedented level of cooperation,” Knudson said, referencing local, state and federal authorities who assisted in the arrest. “It’s a good day. We got our man.”

He gave special thanks to the U.S. Marshals Service, calling them a “huge asset to us here today” and said they were “directly involved” in Brown’s Friday apprehension. He revealed that 130 personnel were involved in the search, and that tips from the community also played a significant role in capturing Brown. 

The Owl Bar where Michael Paul Brown allegedly shot and killed four people on Aug. 1, 2025 (left) and Brown’s boarded up home (right). Photographed Aug. 8, 2025.  (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)

MONTANA BAR SHOOTING SUSPECT COULD RETURN TO TOWN, STATE AG SAYS, CITING ‘CONCERN FOR THE PUBLIC’

The visibly emotional Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Attorney Morgan Smith also spoke. 

“This isn’t the end, this is the beginning,” Smith said. “I am confident in the investigative work that has been done to this point. I’m also incredibly confident in the folks who are going to continue to do investigative work to make sure we can prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law.” 

During the press conference, about 20 residents of the town, which had been on edge all week at the prospect of Brown returning and doing more harm, gathered outside the courthouse and listened to the good news. 

Details about the arrest were scant, as officials cited the ongoing investigation. They also did not release information about the charges against Brown. 

They did note that the unusually chilly weather and cold front that pushed rain into the area this week played a role in the apprehension, and said that after his arrest, Brown was taken to a hospital where he was medically cleared before being booked into jail. 

Michael Paul Brown was arrested in connection to a shooting incident in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Montana. (Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Center)

During a question-and-answer session with the media, Knudsen cleared up the timeline on Brown’s alleged shooting and escape. 

GUNMAN SHOOTS MULTIPLE PEOPLE AT MONTANA BUSINESS, AUTHORITIES LAUNCH INTENSIVE MANHUNT

After the 10:30 a.m. shooting, Brown took off down the street and hid in a building to initially evade capture. He then allegedly stole a white Ford F-150 and drove west towards Stumptown Road. Police identified Brown almost immediately, and gave chase, but in a stroke of luck for the alleged shooter, a nearly identical Ford truck pulled onto the highway during the pursuit, stymieing officers’ efforts to take him into custody immediately. 

The vehicle Brown was driving, which contained outdoor equipment and food, was recovered shortly thereafter, but he was gone. 

Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59, Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64, David Allen Leach, 70, and Tony Wayne Palm, 70, were killed in the attack. Kelley was a bartender, and the other three victims were patrons. All were from Anaconda. 

Throughout the week, residents expressed fear that Brown could return.

Main St. in Anaconda, Montana, leads to the Deer Lodge County Courthouse with mountains in the background. Photographed on Aug. 8, 2025. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)

“The town is just scared. Everybody’s scared. You see everything on Facebook like that. You hear the sirens go by and your stomach just turns,” Jill Rowles, a bartender at Jfk Bar just one block from The Owl Bar told Fox News Digital. 

“Everybody’s in shock, and, hey, everybody’s on edge. With me bartending, I’m looking at those doors constantly, she said, gesturing towards the two entrances of the bar.”

Rowles was a friend of Kelley, and knew Brown. 

 CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Another resident, Matt Fontenot, described a dispirited town that spent the week on edge. 

“I feel like the air has almost changed, like the attitude of the town has grown just a little bit more submissive than usual, just because people feel like they don’t really have control over their lives as much right now because of this,” he said.