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Montana man killed 8 relatives, including 4 kids, at Sunday dinner, family says
ABC7 Los Angeles • • nation
Key Points:
- A mass shooting in Billings, Montana, resulted in the deaths of eight family members, including four children, after 44-year-old Alan Smith, recently asked to move out by his parents, returned and opened fire before setting the house on fire.
- The victims spanned four generations, from a wheelchair-bound great-grandmother in her 90s to a 7-year-old girl; the suspect later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the burned home was destroyed to its foundation.
- Among the victims were the shooter's grandmother, parents, younger sister, and four children from two families; a 12-year-old victim heroically called 911 during the attack.
- Alan Smith was described as a reclusive "hermit" with no criminal record, who had difficulty maintaining employment and was verbally abusive but not previously violent, according to family members.
- This shooting marks the 22nd mass killing in the U.S. this year, with domestic disputes accounting for a higher-than-average proportion of such incidents.
