Montana Investigators Confirm 8 Dead in Billings Family Shooting, Name 44-Year-Old Alan Smith as Shooter

Since gunfire erupted at a family dinner outside Billings, Montana on Sunday evening, August 23, investigators have spent the past two days confirming the scope of the killing and identifying both the victims and the man responsible.

Yellowstone County Sheriff Kent O'Donnell told reporters Tuesday that all eight people targeted in the shooting were dead, describing the toll as "multiple adults and multiple juveniles," according to The Guardian. The Associated Press, reporting through both ABC News and U.S. News & World Report, confirmed the same count Tuesday: eight victims, four of them children, and a gunman who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Who died

The victims spanned four generations of a blended family, according to Jennifer Mercer, a neighbor and family friend authorized by the family to release details to the AP and other outlets. The oldest was Evelyn Smith, the shooter's grandmother, who was in her 90s and used a wheelchair. The youngest was 7-year-old Chloe Ireland.

Also killed were the shooter's parents, Dana and Barb Smith, and his sister, Megan Ghekiere. Megan's two children with her ex-husband, Brad Ireland, 13-year-old Owen Ireland and 7-year-old Chloe Ireland, died alongside her two stepchildren from her current marriage to Adam Ghekiere, 15-year-old Landon Ghekiere and 12-year-old Charlotte Ghekiere.

Brad Ireland told the AP that Alan Smith, 44, was the shooter. Smith had lived with his parents for years before they told him to move out roughly two weeks before the shooting, Ireland said. Smith returned to the house Sunday evening during the family's regular weekly dinner and opened fire.

The 911 call

Mercer told the AP that Charlotte, the 12-year-old, called 911 during the attack and tried to warn her relatives. "The one thing we do know is that Charlotte was the hero," Mercer said. "Charlotte called 9-1-1 and she tried to save her family. And that's something the family does want out there." Times of India and other outlets picked up the same account, crediting Charlotte's actions as something the family specifically wanted made public.

Mercer described the extended family as close-knit despite the divorces woven through it, saying the children got along well and that their parents remained on good terms even after separating. "I feel like our entire community is devastated, even people that never knew any of them," she said.

What police have said about the fire

Billings Police Assistant Chief Shawn Mayo said officers responded to a 911 call reporting an active shooter just after 6 p.m. Sunday and heard gunshots from the back of the house before the home became fully engulfed in flames. The Daily Mail reported the shooting began at 6:01 p.m. and that the gunman was found dead outside with a self-inflicted head wound at 6:48 p.m., citing Sheriff O'Donnell.

Billings Fire Chief Matt Hoppel said firefighters faced a hard call: they had to wait for police to secure the scene before moving in, and the subdivision, which sits outside city limits, has no fire hydrants. Crews brought in water trucks instead. "The delay and limited access presented significant challenges," Hoppel said. "Fire conditions continued to worsen, and the residence ultimately became heavily involved and was consumed by fire." U.S. News & World Report added that firefighters battled the blaze until roughly 1 a.m. Monday and that the house burned to its foundation.

Sheriff O'Donnell said the fire's aftermath will slow the criminal investigation. "Because of the fire and obviously water that goes to suppress that fire, it's going to slow our investigation of the crime scene recovery of evidence," he said, asking for patience. Investigators have not determined how the fire started or established a motive, and police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Stovall said authorities are deliberately withholding some details "to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation."

What's still unresolved

Neither the sheriff's office nor Billings police have released an official theory on what triggered Smith to return to the home and open fire, beyond the family's account that he'd been told to leave weeks earlier. No charges are possible against Smith, who died from what police describe as a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and no additional suspects have been named.

The Guardian noted that authorities expected to provide another public update Wednesday, and that the investigation's timeline depends on how quickly the burned structure can be safely searched. U.S. News & World Report reported the structural integrity of the house remains a concern for investigators trying to process the scene.

Two GoFundMe campaigns have been set up, one for the children's mother and one to support Adam Ghekiere, an airport rescue firefighter whose wife, Megan, was among those killed. The fundraisers describe Landon as a "loving, caring young man" who was days from getting his driver's license, and Charlotte as "funny, precocious and adorable" with "just the right amount of stubborn."

The Guardian also noted the Billings shooting followed a separate mass killing days earlier in Forest Grove, Oregon, where five people, including Mary Elizabeth Kimsey, 85, and four other family members, were killed by a man who then died by apparent suicide. No connection between the two cases has been established by investigators in either state.