Alan Smith, Billings, Montana shooting and fire suspect shot up family of 8 including four children after coming back to the house to shoot his parents who he had been living with for years and who had recently asked him to move out after unable to find or hold a job.
A Billings, Montana man alleged to have shot and killed 8 family members did so after being asked to move out of the family home according to the spouse of one of the victims.
Alan Smith, 44, had been living at the family’s 315 White Star Circle, Billings West End residence but had recently been asked by family members to move out before the shooting occurred. Authorities have not yet publicly confirmed whether that dispute was the motive for the killings.
Brad Ireland, whose former wife and two children were among the dead, identified the shooter as 44-year-old Alan Smith. Smith’s parents, who were also killed, had asked him to move out, but he returned on Sunday and opened fire, Ireland said, AP reported.
Billings, Montana gunman had many red flags
Montana police announced today that multiple children and adults were killed in a shooting and fire at a home in the West Billings End yesterday. The male suspect is deceased. pic.twitter.com/eeBWKxL9b2
— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) August 24, 2026
‘There were many red flags and many people spoke out,’
Alan Smith moved in with his parents in Montana and stayed with them for years before being asked to move out a couple weeks ago, Ireland said.
He unexpectedly returned to the home on Sunday evening, when the Smiths had gathered for a weekly family dinner.
Ireland said Alan Smith killed his grandmother, his parents, his younger sister and the four children before setting the house on fire. He tried to flee before being confronted by law enforcement, he said.
‘There were many red flags and many people spoke out,’ said Ireland. ‘No one listened.’
Alan Smith was a ‘hermit’ who spent most of his days in his room on his computer, Ireland said.
‘No one knew what he did in there 24/7,’ he said.
Alan Smith had attended Eastern Washington University but had been unable to find or hold a job. A search of criminal records in Montana and Washington found no record Alan Smith had ever been arrested or charged with a crime.
Ireland said that to his knowledge Alan Smith had never been violent, though he could be verbally abusive.
Eight victims represented four generations of the same blended family
The eight victims reportedly represented four generations of the same blended family, ranging in age from a 92-year-old wheelchair-bound great-grandmother to a 7-year-old girl, according to family friend and neighbor Jennifer Mercer.
Among those previously identified by relatives are siblings Landon Ghekiere, 15, and Charlotte Ghekiere, 12 along with their mother, Megan Ghekiere and her parents, Barbara and Dana Smith and grandmother, Evelyn Smith, 92.
Also killed was the children of airport rescue firefighter, Adam Ghekiere, Owen and Chloe Ireland ages seven and 13. Surviving the onslaught was Adam’s wife, Erica Jarussi Schneider.
At the time of the shooting, Adam had desperately sought to reach out to the family upon hearing distressed calls of gunfire coming from the grandparents’ home.
‘I tried calling the house and no one answered,’ he told The US Sun during an emotional interview.
‘I checked my kids’ locations, both Landon and Charlotte, and no one answered. I called Megan’s cellphone too.
‘By the time we got to the house, they wouldn’t let us get any closer because it was still under an active shooter status. I feared the worst right then.’
Charlotte Ghekiere hailed a hero
Follow up reports divulged that it had been 12-year-old Charlotte Ghekiere who had tried to save the family when she called 911 at the time of the initial shootings.
‘The one thing we do know is that Charlotte was the hero,’ family friend and neighbor Jennifer Mercer said. ‘Charlotte called 911 and she tried to save her family. And that’s something the family does want out there.’
She described the family as ‘very loving and close,’ and said the children all got along and that their parents remained amicable even after divorcing.
‘I feel like our entire community is devastated, even people that never knew any of them,’ Mercer said.
The tragedy has also left three parents grieving unimaginable losses. Brad Ireland, the ex-husband of Megan, is another parent connected to the children and family devastated by the massacre.
The shootings were the 22nd mass killing this year, according to AP. Fifteen of those have stemmed from domestic disputes, which is higher than the average of about 50% of U.S. mass killings.
The Montana shooting is the deadliest in the U.S. since April, when a Louisiana father fatally shot eight children, including seven of his own, and shot and wounded his wife and another woman.
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