Montana city in lockdown as shooter kills 4 at bar and remains on the run
A shelter-in-place order remained in effect after a suspect named by police as Michael Paul Brown, 45, allegedly opened fire inside Owl Bar in the city.
Brown, who lives next door to the bar, reportedly opened fire at 10.30am, killing a bartender and three customers.
One witness told MTN News they had been at a nearby bar and saw the shooter walking around with a rifle.
Brown is armed and dangerous, according to The Anaconda Deer-Lodge County Law Enforcement Center which released an image of him amid the manhunt.
Officials said that he was last seen wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt, blue jeans and an orange bandana.
Police said they pulled over the driver of a white Ford F-150 after chasing after the vehicle, but Brown was not in the vehicle.
SWAT teams also raided Brown's property, but he was not inside. According to records Brown's home is directly adjacent to the bar.
The local sheriff's office is urging residents to remain inside and stay 'vigilant'.
The suspect was last seen in the Stump Town area, which is just west of Anaconda, according to the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Center.
He was believed to still be armed, the Montana Highway Patrol said in a statement.
The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, which is leading the investigation, confirmed four people were pronounced dead at the scene.
More than a dozen officers from local and state police converged on Stump Town where they appeared to be searching for the suspect in the woods.
A woman who appears to be related to Brown took to social media as the manhunt continued saying 'mental health is real'.
Clare Boyle posted after the horrific events unfolded writing: 'There is one thing I'm certain of. Mental health is real.
'And it goes unmanaged and dismissed every single day. There are people who search for help and get turned away at every stop along the path.
'There are people who cry for help and show definite warning signs of crash out. This town? All this town does is talk and judge.'
Search: SWAT teams also raided Brown's property, but he was not inside. According to records Brown's home is directly adjacent to the bar
A friend to Brown wrote on Facebook: 'The shooter was a friend, combat veteran with PTSD and a delusional mentality of still being active spec ops! He would tell me these outrageous stories of his that were straight out of motion pictures!
'Mikey Brown needed help! Several locals contacted authorities and pleaded for them to do something to no avail! He was always polite to everyone he was in contact with! Gentle soul, I knew him for years, and watched his mental health decline!
'PTSD is a serious disease! I am so sorry for those who lost their lives and their loved ones who are dealing with the loss of their own! Mikey I'm sorry people didn't listen! God Bless Anaconda.'
The owner of the Firefly Café in Anaconda said she locked up her business after getting alerted to the shooting by a friend.
'We are Montana, so guns are not new to us. For our town to be locked down, everybody´s pretty rattled,' café owner Barbie Nelson told the Associated Press.
'It's a small town, so we all probably know someone who was there' at the shooting. she added.
NBC Montana reporter Josh Margolis shared an image of a SWAT team near the bar shortly after 1pm Mountain Time.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Denver office said that multiple people had been shot inside a business in Anaconda.
A spokesperson for the FBI's Salt Lake City office, which covers the area, said the bureau was assisting in the response.
'There is a heavy law enforcement presence west of Anaconda near Stumptown Road and Anderson Ranch Loop Road,' The Montana Highway Patrol said.
'Authorities are searching for a suspect believed to be armed. Please avoid the area.'
Governor Greg Gianforte said he is 'closely monitoring' the situation.
'Please join Susan and me in praying for the victims, their loved ones, and the brave law enforcement officers responding to this tragedy,' he said.
The authorities have yet to release details about what led to the shooting or the conditions of those who were injured.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How a teenage kiss at a funfair led to Jack Woodley being kicked and stabbed by a pack of bloodthirsty yobs... and the 'chilling' detail that stunned the court
Surrounded and preyed upon by a pack of ten bloodthirsty teenagers, Jack Woodley never stood a chance as he curled up on the ground and braced himself for a frenzied attack as he walked home from the funfair. Punched, kicked, stamped upon and fatally wounded with a Rambo knife, the 5ft 7in, 10st 8lb victim was completely defenceless as the vicious gang murdered him 'like zombies attacking an animal' in front of horrified onlookers on October 16 2021. Jack's grieving mother, Zoey McGill, previously released a heartbreaking video of herself cradling her dying son and singing to him in his final moments while he was on life support. He tragically died in hospital a day after the attack. The unarmed 18-year-old, from Newton Aycliffe in County Durham, had done nothing to provoke the killers, only coming to the group's attention by chance when a random row broke out over a girl kissing a boy at the funfair. For four years, most of the teenagers, aged between 14 and 17 at the time of the sickening attack, have been protected by a reporting restriction banning their identity from being revealed until their 18th birthdays. But on Wednesday, Lewis Rose, the youngest of the ten murderers, became an adult, paving the way for the twisted mob to finally be unmasked as one. Their mugshots were finally released, allowing the public to see the faces of evil. Rose, Calum Maddison, Sonny Smith, Leighton Mayo, Blaine Sewell, Grant Wheatley, Clayton Owen, Joe Lathan, Tyler Brewis and Rhys Wear, were the boys handed life sentences with a combined minimum term of more than 124 years. Tragically, it was these 10 animals against one. Jack was hunted down and stabbed in the back during an 80-second attack while making his way home from the Houghton Feast funfair, in Houghton-le-Spring near Sunderland. The 10 boys who murdered Jack Woodley All of the killers, who can now be named after turning 18, were handed life sentences with the following minimum terms: Calum Maddison, 17 years Blaine Sewell, 13 years and five months Sonny Smith, 15 years Grant Wheatley, 15 years Lewis Rose, eight years Tyler Brewis, 13 years Rhys Wear, 10 years Leighton Mayo, 11 years Joe Lathan, 11 years Clayton Owen, 11 years It was Maddison, who had recently turned 15, who delivered the fatal stab wound, but all ten were convicted of Jack's murder under the principle of joint enterprise as they were deemed to be equally responsible. Most of the boys lied to police in a desperate bid to deflect their involvement. Yet none of them even attempted to suggest Jack had provoked the savage assault that has plunged his family into unimaginable grief. As one of the boys' lawyers suggested, it would have been easy for the 10-strong group to pin the blame on Jack as being the aggressor. But the truth was, he simply did nothing wrong that night. He had simply gone to the Houghton Feast funfair with friends when the atmosphere became hostile. Jack was challenged to a fight by a stranger, but sensibly walked away thinking better of it. But as he neared the crowded Britannia Inn, then 16-year-old Sewell ran up and punched him and seized him in a headlock, triggering a terrifying ten on one melee before Maddison plunged his 9in (25cm) knife into Jack's back. He was left to die in an alleyway and tragically died in hospital the following day - his life cut short by a random 'mob attack'. The 11-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court heard he was targeted for a 'trivial reason' - something not one of the 10 defendants ever explained. Jack's family were forced to sit through weeks of evidence and recounting their son's brutal death - but have been left no nearer to understanding why he was targeted. During one moment in the trial, the 16-year-old who attacked Jack from behind, triggering scenes of anarchy, was asked by prosecutors: 'Why did you attack Jack?' 'I can't remember', he replied in a final insult to his victim and Jack's family. Had he seen Jack 'do anything wrong?' 'No,' he replied. The teenager said he did not know if there was a reason Jack was attacked but that there probably was one that he couldn't remember. When asked if he was angry, the boy said: 'A little bit yeah. I must have been to actually hit him.' Pressed why he was angry, he reverted to being unable to remember. So asked again why he attacked Jack, he said: 'I just can't remember.' Quizzed by prosecutors how it could have been forgotten after just a few months, he said: 'Dunno. It just went out my head, I can't remember it.' The boy's lack of memory was described as 'particularly chilling' by prosecutor Mark McKone QC. Jack had only come to the group's attention by chance. The trial heard how when a girl kissed a boy, the boy's ex-girlfriend kicked off and a minor scuffle broke out between the pair. Jack witnesses the girls fighting and asked another boy - one of his would-be killers - what it was about. They joked about it and went their separate ways. Less than an hour later, that boy would be part of the gang who so brutally set upon Jack. Rumours spread that Jack had threatened to 'punch the head in' of one of the boys - lie that had been completely fabricated. This, in the eyes of the prosecutors, was their plot to 'create a conflict with Jack so they could attack him'. When challenged to a one-on-one fight, Jack sensibly decided to walk off. But he was followed and set upon by the bloodthirsty gang. Mobile phone footage of the attack showed there were shouts of 'get the chopper out' - referring to the knife - heard. One of the mob was 'armed with a very dangerous knife', while another admitted taking a knuckle duster out that night. One witness said the youths were like a 'herd of lions' when they attacked. Another witness who saw the violence said: 'Jack got down on the floor so he could curl up in a ball. 'He was so scared. There were so many punches raining down on him. They were brutal. 'Everyone in the group was just kicking the life out of Jack, stamping on his head 'The lads were savagely kicking Jack, like zombies attacking an animal. 'I remember the terrified look on Jack's face as he was being kicked, punched and stamped on.' For all the brutality that led to the death of an 18-year-old boy, none of the 10 killers could say why they did what they did that night. Most said they could not remember or said it happened too fast. The incident lasted around 80 seconds and there was only a small amount of CCTV and mobile footage. Questions were asked over why so many of the boys had their hoods up. One claimed it was because he felt anxious about his hair. But the main element to dissect was why the teenage knifeman - who admitted the stabbing but denied intent - was armed. Jurors were told he had bought it six months prior out of fear of living in a city plagued with knife crime. He wanted it to be a deterrent. But on that night, he hadn't taken it out with him. In fact, he went home to get the knife just 20 minutes before launching a fatal attack on Jack. He claimed he'd gone home to get his coat because it was cold - and decided at the last minute to take the knife back out due to the supposed trouble brewing. Ultimately, he would go on to use it to murder Jack Woodley. He would stand trial alongside nine others - despite claiming they were not responsible for Jack's death. While Jack suffered multiple injuries as he lay helpless on the floor, he was killed by the single knife wound. The nine others were charged as the prosecution argued the fatal blow would not have been delivered if the other members hadn't launched the frenzied attack. By targeting Jack outside the Britannia Inn, each of them contributed to the killing even if their involvement was less than the other. 'The prosecution say all ten defendants participated in this joint attack, using violence themselves or intentionally encouraging others to use violence,' Mr McKone QC said. The reason, argued by the prosecution, for Jack's death was that this was simply a gang of boys wanting to inflict harm on an individual. In a heartbreaking tribute, Jack's mother, Zoey McGill, said: 'Jack was my reason to live and succeed in life. From the moment Jack was born he brought light and love to us all. 'The devastation of losing Jack is immense and far reaching. The trauma of reliving this whole incident over a long trial has had a devastating effect on us all. We cannot see a way of recovering from this. 'We feel imprisoned by our grief and trauma. No parent, loved one or friend should suffer someone going to a fair and losing them forever. We will never be able to share treasured family moments with our cheeky chappy blue-eyed boy ever again.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Victory for attorneys who waved guns at BLM protesters as they are rewarded after five-year battle
The St. Louis couple who drew national attention in 2020 for pointing firearms at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home has finally regained possession of one of those weapons after a years-long legal dispute. Mark and Patricia McCloskey, both attorneys, went viral during the summer of 2020 when they were seen armed on their front lawn as demonstrators passed through their private neighborhood. The couple said they felt threatened after protesters broke through a gate and ignored 'No Trespassing' signs displayed on their private street - no one was hurt in the instance. Now, five years after the viral spectacle, Mark posted a video to X showing himself collecting the AR-15 rifle from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department as he was finally rewarded with the return of the firearm after the lengthy fight. He wrote: 'It only took 3 lawsuits, 2 trips to the Court of Appeals and 1,847 days, but I got my AR15 back!' 'We defended our home, were persecuted by the left, smeared by the press, and threatened with death, but we never backed down,' he added. The McCloskeys were initially charged with unlawful use of a weapon. They later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in 2021 - Mark to fourth-degree assault and Patricia to second-degree harassment - and agreed to forfeit the weapons. However, the couple was pardoned by Missouri Governor Mike Parson shortly thereafter. In 2024, a Missouri appeals court approved the expungement of those misdemeanor convictions, and under state law, the ruling meant the offenses were effectively erased from the couple's records - paving the way for them to reclaim the confiscated firearms. 'That gun may have only been worth $1,500 or something, and it cost me a lot of time and a lot of effort to get it back, but you have to do that,' Mark told Fox News Digital. 'You have to let them know that you will never back down.' According to Mark, the AR-15 had been in the possession of St. Louis police, while Patricia's Bryco .380-caliber pistol was held by the St. Louis Sheriff's Department. He said he expects the pistol to be returned sometime next week. The firearms were initially ordered destroyed after the couple entered their guilty pleas. However, court proceedings later revealed that both weapons still existed. Mark sued in 2021 to get the guns back, but his request was denied multiple times. He eventually prevailed following the expungement ruling last month, which came despite opposition from city attorneys, who argued the couple still posed a threat and cited McCloskey's use of the incident in political advertisements during his unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign. He also noted that the protesters' statements addressed only perceived threats on the day of the incident, not any ongoing danger. Judge Joseph P. Whyte rejected those arguments, the Daily Mail previously reported, writing in his decision that the court was bound to rule based on the expungement statute and not on political grounds. He also noted that the protesters' statements addressed only perceived threats on the day of the incident, not any ongoing danger. The case drew national attention and political reaction at the time, with President Donald Trump and several Republican leaders expressing support for the St Louis natives. The couple later appeared in a video message during the 2020 Republican National Convention.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Unmasked: the man behind one of the fastest growing far-right YouTube channels
The Guardian has identified the self-described 'national socialist' behind an openly extremist YouTube channel that in just over two months has accumulated 50,000 subscribers, seen more than 2.3m views, and likely made thousands of dollars from YouTube's revenue-sharing monetization program. Johnathan Christopher 'Chris' Booth, 37, lives in the unincorporated community of Coral, a part of Maple Valley Township in Michigan's Montcalm county, and is married to a senior local Republican official. Booth has published more than 70 YouTube videos since May on his Shameless Sperg account, whose graphic design elements feature stylized SS bolts. Titles of his videos – generally a recording of him delivering his views direct to camera – include: 'Why I Dislike Jews. It's not complicated', 'Black Crimes Matter: Never Relax' and 'Jews and FBI hate you and your free speech'. Typically the videos attract hundreds of comments from like-minded YouTube users. His channel has seen such remarkable success that it has drawn apparently baseless allegations from other far-right creators that he is a 'fed'. On an X account that frequently advertises his videos, his posts include antisemitic comments and in one response to a post about actor Jim Carrey he writes: 'All of them deserve rope. I advocate for national socialism though, under which idiots like this would not fare too well.' Despite YouTube's stated policies against hate speech and content that promotes violence against individuals or groups based on race, religion or other protected characteristics, Booth's channel appears to be monetized through the YouTube Partner Program. The channel displays ads and Booth has thanked subscribers for their financial support through the platform. YouTube's community guidelines explicitly prohibit content that 'promotes violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization'. A YouTube spokesperson said: 'Upon review, we terminated the channel for violating our community guidelines. Content that promotes violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on their ethnicity, nationality, race or religion is not allowed on YouTube.' According to YouTube, another account associated with Booth was terminated, and creators are no longer entitled to earn any revenue if their channel is terminated. The terminations happened after the Guardian reached out to YouTube with questions about Booth's activities. Also according to YouTube, content that promotes violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on their ethnicity, nationality, race or religion is not allowed on the platform. In the wake of the ban, Booth took to X to say that he would move his content to 'alt-tech' platforms such as Odysee. Booth is married to Meghyn 'Meg' Booth, the Republican treasurer of Maple Valley Township. Meg Booth has 'liked' several posts with extremist themes on Chris Booth's Facebook account with her personal account. Chris Booth's Facebook page also features extensive racist propaganda along with iconography often employed by neo-Nazis. The revelations raise questions about the extent to which YouTube, whose parent company Alphabet also owns Google, Waymo and other tech companies, has backslid on monitoring extremism on its platform. Jeff Tischauser, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), said Booth's operation across YouTube, X and merchandising platforms was a 'boilerplate Nazi grift'. 'He may be earning money from YouTube, as well as hawking these racist and antisemitic items on his website like cups and T-shirts,' Tischauser added. He said that YouTube is 'the premier site that these guys look to in order to expand their following and to make money off of that following'. The Guardian retrieved a Coral, Michigan, street address from EU-mandated General Product Safety Regulation compliance information on the Shameless Sperg merchandise page on the merchandising platform Printify. The property at that address is owned by Meg Booth, according to property records. Data brokers indicate that Chris Booth lives at the same address. Sites including show exterior views of the house at the property. The property's color and cladding match those visible in videos published to YouTube on 14 and 15 May. Chris Booth appears to have made some efforts to remove photographs of himself and other potentially identifying information from his own social media accounts and other online spaces. However, he is visible in 'shorts'-style videos posted by Meg Booth to Facebook. This video of Chris Booth depicts the same person visible in Shameless Sperg videos. The Guardian emailed both Chris and Meg Booth for comment. In an email, Meg Booth appeared to repudiate her husband's views. 'I am not involved in my husband's content or political views, and I do not share or support any form of racism, antisemitism, or hate speech,' she wrote, adding: 'My values are my own and are grounded in respect, inclusion, and service to the community.' Meg Booth concluded: 'As an elected official, I've always acted independently, with integrity, and in line with the expectations of my office. I respectfully decline further comment.' Chris Booth did not directly respond, but in the day after the email he took to X to reaffirm his views, including a post in which he wrote: 'I've come to believe fascists are born, not made. Discovering real fascism in my early thirties was like looking into a mirror and finally realizing why commies have called me a fascist for so long. They spotted it before I could, but then I wholeheartedly embraced it.' In his videos and on X, Booth explicitly embraces neo-Nazi ideology and promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories. On his Shameless Sperg X account, Booth writes: 'I am the Shameless Sperg, I am a National Socialist, and I do sperg rants here,' with a link to his YouTube channel. On the YouTube channel, he writes: 'This channel is a collection of sperg rants and commentary on the news & issues of the day, or whatever else is on my mind, from an autistically dissident and NS perspective.' 'Sperg', an abbreviation for Asperger syndrome, is used pejoratively in far-right circles for those whose obsessive and open extremism might put off normal people or draw unwanted attention. 'NS' is commonly used as an abbreviation for 'national socialist' in far-right circles. His videos almost all contain neo-Nazi perspectives, enunciating conspiratorial antisemitism, anti-Black racism and claims that white people are superior to all other races. In a June video titled 'There is no Anti-Semitism without Semitism', Booth states in relation to interwar Germany: 'Extreme sadism and humiliation towards Gentiles is a Jewish tradition … Now, you might begin to understand why, after 14 years of seeing their people tormented by the Jews, millions of Germans organized, gained political power and broke the chains of Jewish tyranny in Germany.' The video continues with Booth arguing that antisemitism is a just response to the behavior of Jews, and sarcastically dismisses the idea that it is 'just some ancient mental pathogen in the minds of the goyim, it just springs to life for no reason just to make things harder for the Jews'. In a July video, Booth defended recent attempts to create a whites-only community in Arkansas. He said: 'White people are allowed to congregate together without being accompanied by some fucking Black person or some Jew.' In another July video Booth said: 'Black people oppress themselves. I don't do it. I have no interest in it. I, you know, I just want them away from me. You know, I want them away from me, my community, my state, my country. I don't know. Just, I don't know, get the fuck away from me.' In a May video supporting Trump's program of allowing Afrikaner refugees into the country on the basis of a fictional 'white genocide' in South Africa, Booth said: 'You know, I'm hoping that they don't completely lose South Africa to the Black plague, but, um, but in any event, uh, things are going to fall apart for them and go shit sideways.' Tischauser, the SPLC analyst, said that the themes of Booth's videos mix 'crass racism, basic historic white power talking points' and 'pseudo-academic kind of takes on Black criminality or Black behavior'. Meg Booth, Chris Booth's wife, was in November elected as the treasurer of Maple Valley Township running as a Republican. Her public social media profile does not feature the kind of extremist messaging that Chris Booth offers on his platform, though she has interacted with posts on his Facebook account, which is also freighted with racist messaging and neo-Nazi imagery. Chris Booth also 'liked' posts in which his wife discussed her candidacy.
