Suspect in Deadly Montana Bar Shooting Is Captured, Official Says

A U.S. Army veteran suspected of killing four people in a Montana bar last week was captured on Friday, according to local law enforcement officials . The arrest ends a manhunt that lasted eight days as law enforcement officers searched brushy terrain outside the small town of Anaconda.

Details of where and how the man, Michael P. Brown, was taken into custody were not immediately provided by officials. Mr. Brown, 45, had fled into the foothills near the town after the shooting in the Owl Bar, a neighborhood tavern, on Aug. 1, the authorities said.

A bartender and three patrons were killed in the shooting. Officials identified them as Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64; Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74.

Eric Hempstead, the owner of another local bar, said it appeared that Mr. Brown had been apprehended a few hundred yards away from Mr. Hempstead’s roadside tavern, the Ranch Bar.

The capture brought relief to residents of Anaconda, who have spent the past week both grieving the deaths and looking over their shoulders as Mr. Brown remained on the large. “Everybody’s pretty happy,” Mr. Hempstead said. “He knew the area well. He knew where to hide.”

Mr. Brown lived down the street from the bar where the shooting occurred in Anaconda, a small town where many people know one another. Relatives of the suspect said he had a long history of mental illness after serving as an armor crewman in the Army.

“There’s definitely a sense of relief,” said Celina Van Hyning, director of the local chamber of commerce, which had been forced to cancel an annual weekend festival amid the ongoing manhunt.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.