Montana Family Shooting Is Deadliest Mass Killing in U.S. Since April
A man killed eight of his relatives, including four children, during a Sunday dinner gathering at a family home outside Billings, Montana, before taking his own life, according to a family spokesperson and police.
Brad Ireland, whose former wife and two of their children were among those killed, identified the shooter as his ex-wife's stepfather, 44-year-old Alan Smith. Police responded to the home Sunday evening after hearing gunshots coming from the back of the property, just before the house became engulfed in flames. Investigators confirmed Tuesday that eight people had died, including four children, and that one person, identified as the shooter, had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Four Generations of a Blended Family
The victims spanned four generations of the family, ranging from a great-grandmother in her 90s who used a wheelchair to a 7-year-old girl, according to Jennifer Mercer, a neighbor and family friend who set up an online fundraiser to help cover funeral costs and was authorized by the family to share these details.
Ireland told the Associated Press that Alan Smith had been living with his parents, Dana and Barb Smith, in Montana for several years before they asked him to move out a couple of weeks before the shooting. Smith returned to the home Sunday and opened fire, according to Ireland. Dana Smith's elderly mother, Evelyn, lived nearby in a retirement community and was among those killed.
Ireland's former wife, Megan Ghekiere, had moved to Montana with her parents after their 2020 divorce, and later remarried. Her husband, Adam Ghekiere, was working and not at the home at the time of the shooting.
What's Known About the Shooter
According to Ireland, Alan Smith had attended Eastern Washington University but had struggled to find or hold steady work. A search of criminal records in Montana and Washington turned up no history of arrests or charges against him. Ireland said that, to his knowledge, Smith had never been physically violent before, though he could be verbally abusive at times.
A Neighborhood Shaken by the Attack
David Hiller, who lives three doors down from the home, told the Associated Press he initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks just after 6 p.m. Sunday, until a neighbor called to warn him about a shooting nearby. When Hiller went outside, he found police in tactical gear sheltering behind vehicles as black smoke rose from the burning house.
The shooting is the deadliest mass killing in the U.S. since April, when a Louisiana father fatally shot eight children, including seven of his own, and wounded his wife and another woman.
Friends of the victims have since set up GoFundMe pages to help support surviving family members, including on behalf of Adam Ghekiere.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of harming yourself or others, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988
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