Montana’s attorney general has released the names of four victims fatally shot at a bar in Anaconda on Friday, as the search for the suspected gunman continues. The victims were identified as Daniel Edwin Ballie, 59; Nancy Lauretta Kelly, 64; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74, all residents of Anaconda. Kelly was a bartender, and the others were patrons at The Owl Bar.
The suspect, Michael Paul Brown, 45, a former US Army soldier, remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous. Officials warn he may be driving a stolen car containing clothes and camping gear. Brown, who lived next door to the bar and was a regular, is believed to have used a rifle in the attack. Attorney General Austin Knudsen described him as an unstable individual who killed without reason.
Local events have been cancelled as the manhunt enters its third day. Investigators have searched areas including woods where Brown hunted as a child. Brown served in the army from 2001 to 2005, including a deployment to Iraq, and later in the Montana National Guard until 2009. His niece stated he struggled with mental illness, and officials were aware of him before the shootings.
In a separate incident, authorities in Tennessee are searching for Austin Robert Drummond, 28, wanted for the murders of four people, including the parents, grandmother, and uncle of an infant found alone in a discarded car seat. Two other men have been arrested for allegedly assisting Drummond. The victims were found in Tiptonville, about 40 miles from where the baby was left.
