The manhunt for a military veteran suspected of fatally shooting four people at a bar in Montana stretched into a fourth day Monday.
Police are looking for Michael Paul Brown, 45, who is wanted for allegedly shooting the four inside The Owl Bar in the small town of Anaconda before fleeing in a white pickup, which he ditched at some point. But law enforcement now believes Brown ditched that vehicle and stole a different one that had camping gear, shoes and clothes in it.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told reporters on Sunday that Brown was believed to still be armed and dangerous. A $7,500 reward has been offered for any information that leads to his arrest.
"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.
Authorities released a photo of the suspect said to be taken as he fled after the shooting: Gaunt, barefoot and wearing nothing but black shorts, he is seen walking down what appears to be a flight of outdoor concrete steps.
But because the vehicle authorities believe Brown may have stolen had shoes and clothes in it, it's possible he's now clothed, authorities said.
Montana Department of Justice on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, released this image of Michael Brown fleeing.
Montana Department of Justice
Investigators are considering all possible options for Brown's whereabouts, the attorney general said. That includes scouring 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.
The search involves deputies traversing the rugged mountainous around west of Anaconda, both on the ground and by air. It included multiple local, state, and federal agencies. As law enforcement scour the wild terrain, the woods southwest of Anaconda have been closed to the public by the National Forest System.
Anaconda-Deer Lodge Police Chief Bill Sather said Saturday that businesses in the area could open, but he urged caution.
The victims were identified as Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59, Nancy Lauretta Kelly, 64, David Allen Leach, 70, and 74-year-old Tony Wayne Palm. They were all from Anaconda.
Knudsen said the investigation has led them to believe Brown, who lived next door, was a regular at the bar and knew the victims.
"This is a small, tight-knit community that has been harmed by the heinous actions of one individual who does not represent what this community or Montanans stand for," said Lee Johnson, administrator of the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.
Kristian Kelley, the daughter of Nancy Kelley, told CBS News her mother, "was a wonderful nurse, and she had a gift for taking care of people at the hospital. She was always very kind and good-hearted to her patients. She loved animals."
"She just retired and just kind of did [bartending] to have something to do on a day or two. Just to be out and about," she said.
Anaconda, about 25 miles northwest of Butte, is home to roughly 9,000 people. Hemmed in by mountains, it was founded by copper barons who profited from nearby mines in the late 1800s. A smelter stack that is no longer operational looms over the valley.
Police tape surrounds The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Mont., on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, following a fatal shooting.
Joseph Scheller/The Montana Standard via AP
The Owl Bar's owner, David Gwerder, told The Associated Press that he was not aware of any conflict between Brown and the victims.
"He knew everybody that was in that bar. I guarantee you that," Gwerder said. "He didn't have any running dispute with any of them. I just think he snapped."
Robert Wyatt, 70, said he was neighbors with Leach at a public housing complex for elderly people and people with disabilities.
"Everybody is nervous" since Friday, Wyatt said.
Leach was deaf and kept mostly to himself, Wyatt said, and he only recalls Leach having a family visit once almost a year ago. But Leach was always happy to help his neighbors with chores like moving furniture.
"If you needed help, Dave would help," Wyatt said. "He was a good neighbor."
David Jabarek, 70, said that a mass shooting in a place as small as Anaconda is baffling to many. He said that he regularly saw both the shooter and the victims over the course of the 20 years that he has lived in Anaconda.
"We only have 9,000 people, so it's like, what the hell just happened? Everybody knows everybody here," he said.
Jabarek was headed to Owl Bar less than 30 minutes before the shooting happened, at around 10:15 a.m. On an impulse, he went to run an errand nearby instead. When he came back to the area, he saw the bar was surrounded by police.
"If I'd have been in there when I was supposed to be, you wouldn't be talking to me. Somebody be talking to you about me," he said.
The close call is now keeping Jabarek up at night. But he said that he isn't afraid of the prospect of Brown returning.
"Everybody around here has two dozen firearms in their house, and right now they're within hands reach," Jabarek said.
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 military service at the rank of sergeant.
Brown's niece, Clare Boyle, told AP her uncle has struggled with mental illness for years and she and other family members repeatedly sought help.
"This isn't just a drunk/high man going wild," she said in a Facebook message. "It's a sick man who doesn't know who he is sometimes and frequently doesn't know where or when he is either."
Kristian Kelley told CBS News she knows who Brown is, but her mother "had never mentioned him."
"He was somebody that needed some serious resources. He had some mental health issues as well as PTSD from being in the military," Kristian Kelley said. "I've never known him to be violent. He was a person who would tell pretty strange stories and different things like that."
More from CBS News