It’s been four days since the manhunt for Michael Paul Brown began. Authorities believe the Anaconda resident and military veteran is responsible for a shooting Friday at The Owl Bar.
Three patrons and a bartender were killed. Brown was last seen west of town near Stumptown Road. It’s a heavily forested and mountainous area. Attorney General Austin Knudsen said on Sunday that authorities believe Brown to be armed and dangerous.
“By all indications, this is an unstable individual who walked in and murdered four people in cold blood for no reason whatsoever.” Knudsen said.
Kyle Spaulding and his wife live in the remote Clear Creek area on the other side of the small mountain where Brown is believed to have taken off on foot.
“Yeah, it was a little unnerving because from where it happened, it’s just right over the mountain," Spaulding says. "So me and a lot of the other neighbors were coordinating and saying, ‘hey, keep an eye out, keep your cameras on.”
Officials closed about 22 square miles of U.S. Forest lands southwest of Anaconda as they continue their search. The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to Brown’s arrest.
Gov. Greg Gianforte and Attorney General Austin Knudsen plan to update the public during a press conference Tuesday.
