Family of Anaconda shooting suspect shares his mental health struggles
ANACONDA — On Friday morning, Mike Brown is accused of walking into The Owl Bar in Anaconda and killing four people.
The names of the four victims have not been released as of Saturday morning.
The search for Brown continues.
MTN News talked with with a family member of the Anaconda bar shooting suspect and has learned more about his past.
MT DCI
According to Clare Boyle, the niece of Brown, she and her family are heartbroken over the situation and the four lives that were lost.
Boyle said, “My heart breaks for this town. There is no amount of apology or words that could ever describe how sorry I am and how I feel for these families, my own included.”
Boyle told MTN that Brown suffered from significant mental health challenges, including schizophrenia and PTSD from serving in the Army. Boyle said Brown moved around a lot and was a military brat, as his father also served.
According to Lt. Ruth Castro, an Army spokesperson, Brown served in the U.S. Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005 and was deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March 2005.
Brown was in the National Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro said. He left military service with the rank of sergeant.
Boyle told MTN that Brown’s schizophrenia worsened after losing his mother. “Mikee’s decline started really heavily when my grandma passed. The trauma from losing his last parent broke Mikee. The VA said he no longer qualified for assistance with obtaining prescriptions and help.”
Clare Boyle
According to Boyle, Brown would have delusions of being a time traveler. She says, “He no longer drank alcohol because it ‘blocked his wizard powers’…Mikee is harmless 99% of the time when others aren’t asking him about and making fun of his delusions.”
Boyle says her family sought help for Brown through both the Montana VA and the Montana State Hospital. “The VA said he no longer qualified for assistance with obtaining prescriptions and help. The Montana State Hospital wouldn’t take him in unless it was a court order. The only way to obtain a court order was for Mikee to become a harm to himself or others. We warned them that a snap could happen and that he was not of sound mind, and we were still left with no answers and nowhere to turn.”
Boyle added, “A lot of the time, people forget how hard it is for his family to watch this happen and be completely…”
Anyone who sees Brown is advised to call 911 immediately, or call if they have any information regarding his location.
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