BILLINGS, Montana – A Montana man killed eight relatives, including four children, during a family gathering outside Billings before the home was destroyed by fire, according to relatives and police. The suspect, identified by family members as 44-year-old Alan Smith, also died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
The victims belonged to four generations of the same blended family. Their ages ranged from a great-grandmother in her 90s to a 7-year-old girl.
This report is based on reporting by The Associated Press.
Eight relatives killed before house fire
Police responding to the property Sunday evening heard gunshots coming from the rear of the home shortly before the building caught fire.
Investigators confirmed Tuesday that eight people had died. Smith also died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The fire destroyed the house down to its foundation. The damage has complicated the investigation because authorities remain concerned about the stability of the structure, Billings Police Department spokesperson Jeff Stovall said.
Firefighters battled the blaze until about 1 a.m. Monday, according to Billings Fire Department Chief Matt Hoppel.
The property sits in a subdivision outside Billings city limits. The area does not require fire hydrants, and firefighters could not fully begin their work until authorities secured the scene.
Four children among those killed
The victims included Megan Ghekiere, the former wife of family member Brad Ireland, and their two children, 13-year-old Owen Ireland and 7-year-old Chloe Ireland.
Megan’s two stepchildren from her current marriage, 15-year-old Landon Ghekiere and 12-year-old Charlotte Ghekiere, also died.
Smith’s parents and grandmother were among the other victims, according to Ireland and Jennifer Mercer, a neighbor and family friend authorized to release information about the victims.
Mercer said Charlotte called 911 during the attack and tried to help her family.
The family described the children as close and the wider family as loving, Mercer said.
Adam Ghekiere, Megan’s husband, learned through a dispatch radio that an active shooting was underway. He drove to the property and found the house burning.
He said he learned about two hours later that his wife and children had been killed.
Suspect had been asked to leave
Smith had lived with his parents for years after moving from the Seattle area to Montana, Ireland said.
His parents had asked him to move out several weeks before the shooting, according to the relative.
Smith returned unexpectedly Sunday evening while the family was gathering for its regular dinner. Ireland said Smith then killed his grandmother, parents, sister and the four children before setting the house on fire.
The family had originally lived in the Seattle area. Megan Ghekiere moved to Montana with her children after divorcing Ireland about six years ago. Her parents later followed and bought a home near their daughter’s residence.
Smith subsequently moved in with his parents.
Ireland described Smith as a recluse who spent much of his time in his room using a computer. He said Smith had attended Eastern Washington University but had struggled to find and keep employment.
A search of criminal records in Montana and Washington found no previous arrest or criminal charge involving Smith.
Ireland said he was not aware of Smith ever being violent, although he described him as sometimes verbally abusive.
Investigation continues as motive remains unclear
The Montana shooting was the 22nd mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
Fifteen of those killings involved domestic disputes, according to James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminologist who manages the database. The supplied reporting says that figure is above the database’s historical average of about half of U.S. mass killings.
The attack was the deadliest mass killing in the United States since April, when a father in Louisiana fatally shot eight children, including seven of his own, and wounded his wife and another woman.
Investigators continue to reconstruct what happened at the Montana property.
The destroyed home presents additional challenges for investigators. Authorities have not publicly provided a motive for the shooting.
Reporting Credit: Journos News World News Desk, based on reporting by The Associated Press.
