Four dead in shooting at Montana bar

[JGalt]

Well...I guess that's why we call it the Wild West eh?
This sort of thing has been going on forever...firearms and alcohol--a potent mixture.

Four dead in shooting at Anaconda bar, search for suspected shooter continues

Four people are dead after a shooter opened fire at Anaconda’s Owl Bar at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 1, 2025, according to a press release from the Montana Department of Justice.

montanafreepress.org

Four people are dead after a shooter opened fire at Anaconda’s Owl Bar at approximately 10:30 a.m. Friday, according to a press release from the Montana Department of Justice.

“Authorities are searching for a suspect who is believed to be armed west of Anaconda near Stumptown Road and Anderson Ranch Loop Road,” DOJ Press Secretary Chase Sheuer wrote in the release sent at 2:20 p.m. Friday.

The suspect was identified as 45-year-old Michael Paul Brown, who lived next door to the bar, according to public records reported on by the Associated Press. Authorities said his home was cleared by a SWAT team and that he was last seen in the Stump Town area, which is just west of Anaconda.

In a 1:20 p.m. Friday post on X, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said that its Denver office is “responding to a shooting where multiple parties have been shot at a business in Anaconda.”

I would imagine living next to a bar would be pretty noisy and would probably make it hard to get a good night's sleep. But shooting someone over it sorta crosses a few too many lines.

 

[1srelluc]

Guess he did not leave his gun in the receptacle by the swinging doors.

 

[Carl in Michigan]

The dust scene was right out of bugs bunny. The death scene too

 

[JGalt]

The dust scene was right out of bugs bunny. The death scene too

I don't know why I'm laughing now. This here's a serious thread, dammit.

 

[1srelluc]

I don't know why I'm laughing now. This here's a serious thread, dammit.

Well, nothing against the OP of course but when a Buster Scruggs clip us used you just have to follow-up with another till the job is done.

 

[1srelluc]

Back to the event:

Suspect is Michael Paul Brown last seen in the Stumptown area. Last seen driving a 2007 white Ford F-150 with Montana plates DTY493.

Anaconda Leader | Anaconda MT



His niece, Clare Boyle, told the AP on Friday that her uncle has been mentally sick for years and that she and other family members have tried repeatedly to seek help.

“This isn’t just a drunk/high man going wild,” she wrote 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.”

 

[The Duke]

I have to wonder why a town in Montana is named after a snake that would never survive there.

 

[OODA_Loop]

Who the hell is drinking in a bar at 10:30 in the morning?

Crepitus

 

[DonGlock26]

Back to the event:

Suspect is Michael Paul Brown last seen in the Stumptown area. Last seen driving a 2007 white Ford F-150 with Montana plates DTY493.

Anaconda Leader | Anaconda MT



His niece, Clare Boyle, told the AP on Friday that her uncle has been mentally sick for years and that she and other family members have tried repeatedly to seek help.

“This isn’t just a drunk/high man going wild,” she wrote 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.”

Now, I'm not a clinically trained psychiatrist, but that picture screams crazy to me.

 

[debbiedowner]

Who the hell is drinking in a bar at 10:30 in the morning?

3rd shift workers if there are any in that small town.

I worked 3rd shift in the early 70's and quite a few of us would go directly to the bar after work to eat and drink.

 

[JGalt]

3rd shift workers if there are any in that small town.

I worked 3rd shift in the early 70's and quite a few of us would go directly to the bar after work to eat and drink.

I never saw a bar open at 6 AM until I moved to Wisconsin. I've seen third-shifters hit the bars when they open.

 

[debbiedowner]

I never saw a bar open at 6 AM until I moved to Wisconsin. I've seen third-shifters hit the bars when they open.

Yep, I lived up North and most of the neighborhood bars opened at 6 or 7 AM. Postal workers, factory workers, hospital workers after 3rd shift. Not to mention the alkies.

 

[The Duke]

How did a mentally ill dude get ahold of a gun?

 

[JGalt]

How did a mentally ill dude get ahold of a gun?

Not sure. He served in the U.S. Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005 and was deployed to Iraq between early 2004 and March 2005. He seems to have gone through a lot of changes in clothing, hair styles, and physical appearance, judging from the pictures. That should have been a clue.

Exclusive Photos of Michael Paul Brown, Suspect in Anaconda Owl Bar Shooting

 

[Correll]

3rd shift workers if there are any in that small town.

I worked 3rd shift in the early 70's and quite a few of us would go directly to the bar after work to eat and drink.

I remember once a buddy and I got pulled over at 3am by a cop and he asked what we were up to.


Told him we were getting together for lunch on our day off. It was completely true.


LOL.

 

[Mr Natural]

And a white guy no less.

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

How did a mentally ill dude get ahold of a gun?

In Montana?
Any bar parking lot.
There is also the possibility that he bought the rifle in a saner moment...and nobody knew.

 

[JGalt]

And a white guy no less.

It's Montana, bro. They had a hard time finding a black guy and even then, none of them wanted the job.

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

It's Montana, bro. They had a hard time finding a black guy and even then, none of them wanted the job.

The racial issue in Montana is Native vs White---as it always has been.
Plenty of Black folk in Montana...the thing is they are exactly the same as the White folk..culturally.
Near-total assimilation.

 

[JGalt]

In Montana?
Any bar parking lot.
There is also the possibility that he bought the rifle in a saner moment...and nobody knew.

Do we know it was a rifle?