The search for a man suspected of fatally shooting four people at a Montana bar Friday morning stretched into the night after his truck was found but he was not in it, state officials said.
The suspect was named as Michael Paul Brown, according to Anaconda-Deer Lodge County law enforcement.
Brown, 45, walked into the Owl Bar in Anaconda at 10:30 a.m. and opened fire, killing four people, said Investigations Administrator Lee Johnson with the Montana Department of Justice.
The manhunt for Brown was still underway 12 hours later. Johnson said authorities were searching for him in the area of Stumptown Road, west of Anaconda, a copper smelt town founded in the late 1800s.
The four people killed at the Owl Bar have been identified, but their names have not been publicly released, Johnson said.
"This is a small, tight-knit community that has been harmed by the heinous actions of one individual today who does not represent what this community or Montanans stand for," Johnson said.
Police did not offer a motive for the shooting.
A person with the same name as the suspect co-owns a small home next door to the bar, Deer Lodge County tax assessment records show.
The suspect was wearing wearing a tie-dyed shirt, blue jeans and an orange bandana, according to the sheriff’s office in Granite County, adjacent to Deer Lodge County, where Anaconda is located.
Authorities urged residents in the area of the search to call 911 if they spot the suspect and warned them to stay indoors and vigilant.
Brown is believed to be armed and dangerous, according to the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Center.
NBC Montana, citing authorities, reported the suspect was last seen driving a 2007 white Ford F-150 pickup headed west on Anaconda Road.
The truck was recovered and Brown was not inside, Johnson said.
The Granite County Sheriff's Office said the suspect's home was searched and "cleared" earlier by a SWAT team.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on X that the bureau is sending personnel to Anaconda to help local authorities with the case.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a statement that some of its Denver-based personnel are also responding to Anaconda to assist local authorities.
Gov. Greg Gianforte said that he's been apprised of the attack and subsequent manhunt and that he and his wife are praying for the loved ones of the victims.
"I’m closely monitoring the situation involving an active shooter in Anaconda," he said on X. "Please join Susan and me in praying for the victims, their loved ones, and the brave law enforcement officers responding to this tragedy."
Anaconda, about 25 miles west of Butte and adjacent to the Continental Divide, is part of a consolidated government with Deer Lodge County in southwest Montana. The city and county have less than 10,000 residents combined.
The Owl Bar was established sometime near the dawn of the 1900s and served the town's smeltworkers, according to a 1987 story in Montana Standard. It cites the book "Watering Holes" in stating the bar's building opened in 1893.
