Anaconda Bar Shooting: Victims identified, $7,500 reward announced for wanted suspect as manhunt continues; details inside

In a major update in the bar shooting that unfolded on Friday (August 1, 2025) in Anaconda, Montana, the victims who lost their lives in the incident have been identified. The development comes as Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said Sunday (August 3, 2025) that the all-out manhunt for the suspect continues.

The Montana bar shooting victims, all residents, have been identified as 59-year-old Daniel Edwin Baillie, 64-year-old Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 70-year-old David Allen Leach, and 74-year-old Tony Wayne Palm, a news release from Knudsen’s office said Sunday (August 3, 2025), reported CNN. According to Attorney General Austin Knudsen, the victims included a bartender and two customers, Knudsen said.

It is pertinent to mention that, according to CNN, officials previously used the wrong spelling for Baillie’s last name. “I want to offer our deepest and sincere condolences to the community of Anaconda and the family and friends of these victims. This is just absolutely horrific,” Knudsen said.


Meanwhile, the manhunt for suspect Michael Paul Brown is still underway, with authorities remaining on high alert. Brown has been on the loose for more than 48 hours. Officials are offering a $7,500 reward for any information that will lead to locating Brown, Knudsen further stated. The shooting incident suspect is believed to be armed and dangerous.

According to investigators, Brown, whose family says struggled with mental health issues, was seen on security footage fleeing The Owl Bar on Friday. He was last seen in the Stump Town area, west of Anaconda, according to The Associated Press.

Anaconda Bar Shooting: $7,500 reward offered for wanted suspect

The U.S. Marshals Service on Sunday (August 3, 2025) posted a $7,500 reward for any information leading to the capture of the man accused of shooting four people dead in a Montana bar before he vanished, sparking a search for the suspect in the nearby mountains. The reward was announced as state Attorney General Austin Knudsen visited the small southwestern Montana town of Anaconda to be briefed by investigators and provide a public update on the third day of the manhunt.

According to authorities, the suspect, Michael Brown, 45, walked into the Owl Bar late on Friday morning and opened fire with a rifle, killing the bartender and three patrons, then fled the scene. A stolen pickup truck used as a getaway vehicle was later recovered, but law enforcement's last sighting of the suspect was during a brief pursuit about two hours after the shooting, Knudsen told reporters.

Investigators have yet to determine a motive, but Brown lived near the bar, was a regular there himself, and presumably knew all four of his victims, Knudsen said. The manhunt, which has involved as many as 250 local, state and federal law enforcement personnel and various aircraft, remained focused on a mountainous area west of Anaconda, a town of fewer than 10,000 residents about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Missoula.