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Suspect in deadly Montana bar shooting captured
Officials in Montana announced Friday that Michael Paul Brown, the suspect in a deadly shooting at a bar that left four people dead last week, has been captured.
BILLINGS, Mont. - A man accused of killing four people in a Montana bar and eluding capture for a week while hundreds of officers scoured the surrounding mountains has been charged with four counts of murder, according to court records.
Defendant Michael Paul Brown lived next door to The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Montana, where a bartender and three patrons were shot and killed Aug. 1.
What we don't know:
Authorities have not commented on a potential motive for the 45-year-old former soldier. His niece has said Brown long struggled with mental illness.
Michael Paul Brown is wanted in connection to a shooting incident in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Montana. (Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Center)
What we know:
The charges Brown faces were posted on a court website Saturday after the case previously had been under seal by a state judge. Charging documents were not immediately available.
RELATED: Manhunt underway after 4 killed in Anaconda, Montana, bar shooting
The backstory:
Following the shooting, authorities said Brown stole a truck and then ditched it a few miles outside of town, close to where he was eventually apprehended.
He hid in nearby forests, moving locations while helicopters and drones circled overhead and officers and dogs searched on the ground, officials said. But he was eventually flushed into a sparsely populated area near a state highway by the pressure of so many officers searching for him, according to officials.
RELATED: Montana bar shooting victims identified as manhunt for suspect continues
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'Active manhunt' for suspect in deadly Montana shooting
Authorities in Montana are searching for a suspect in a shooting that left four people dead at a bar in Anaconda on Friday.
Brown was captured on Aug. 8 inside an unoccupied structure near a state highway.
Investigators also are examining whether he had any contact with individuals or property owners who might have helped him while he was on the run.
State Department of Justice spokesperson Chase Scheuer said Friday that the probe is ongoing.
What's next:
Brown is scheduled to make an initial district court appearance on Sept. 3. He is being held on $2 million bail and represented by attorney Walter Hennessey, who did not immediately respond to telephone messages on Friday or Saturday.
Big picture view:
Anaconda, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Butte, is home to roughly 9,000 people. Hemmed in by mountains, it was founded by a copper magnate in the late 1800s. A smelter stack that is no longer operational looms over the valley.
The owner of The Owl Bar has said Brown patronized it over the past several decades, but he was not aware of any conflicts between the suspect and victims.
A conviction for murder, known in Montana as deliberate homicide, is punishable by death in the state. Executions have been on hold since 2015 under a court ruling regarding a drug used in lethal injections.
The Source: The information in this story comes from court records, official statements by law enforcement and state officials, and reporting from individuals connected to the case. The Associated Press contributed. This story was reported from Los Angeles.