Montana girl hailed after family shooting kills eight

A 12-year-old girl called 911 as gunfire erupted during a family dinner outside Billings, Montana, where authorities and relatives say a man killed eight members of his own family, including four children, before the home burned to its foundation.

Investigators confirmed Tuesday that eight victims were found after the Sunday evening shooting and fire, and that the suspect later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Brad Ireland, whose former wife and two children were among those killed, identified the gunman as 44-year-old Alan Smith, a relative who had been asked by his parents to move out weeks earlier.

“The one thing we do know is that Charlotte was the hero,” said Jennifer Mercer, a neighbor and family friend authorized to release details about the victims. “Charlotte called 911 and she tried to save her family. And that’s something the family does want out there.”

The victims represented four generations of a blended family, Mercer said, ranging from a great-grandmother in her 90s who used a wheelchair to a 7-year-old girl. Among those killed were Ireland’s ex-wife, Megan Ghekiere, and their children, Owen Ireland, 13, and Chloe Ireland, 7. Also killed were Megan Ghekiere’s stepchildren with her current husband, Landon Ghekiere, 15, and Charlotte Ghekiere, 12.

Ireland said Alan Smith also killed his grandmother, his parents, Dana and Barb Smith, and his younger sister before setting the house on fire. He said Smith tried to flee before being confronted by law enforcement.

Police responded to the home Sunday evening and heard gunshots coming from behind the house shortly before it became engulfed in flames. Jeff Stovall, a spokesperson for the Billings Police Department, said the investigation has been complicated by concerns about the home’s structural integrity after the fire burned it to its foundation.

“First and foremost, the Billings Police Department extends our deepest condolences to everyone affected by this awful tragedy,” Sgt. Jeff Stovall said in a statement reported by CBS News. “Our thoughts are with the families, loved ones, and all those impacted during this incredibly difficult time.”

Firefighters battled the blaze until about 1 a.m. Monday, Billings Fire Department Chief Matt Hoppel said. The home sits in a subdivision outside city limits that is not required to have fire hydrants, and firefighting efforts were delayed until the scene was secure.

The Smith family was originally from the Seattle area. Ireland said Megan Ghekiere moved to Montana with their children after their divorce six years ago and later married Adam Ghekiere, who was working and not at the home during the shooting. Dana and Barb Smith later bought a home in Billings near their daughter, and Evelyn Smith, Dana’s mother, lived in a nearby retirement community.

Alan Smith had lived with his parents in Montana for years before they asked him to move out, Ireland said. He described Smith as a “hermit” who spent most of his time in his room on his computer and said Smith had been unable to find or keep a job after attending Eastern Washington University.

“There were many red flags and many people spoke out,” Ireland said. “No one listened.”

A search of criminal records in Montana and Washington found no record that Alan Smith had been arrested or charged with a crime. Ireland said that, to his knowledge, Smith had never been violent, though he could be verbally abusive.

Mercer described the family as “very loving and close” and said the children got along and their parents remained amicable after divorces. “I feel like our entire community is devastated, even people that never knew any of them,” she said.

Adam Ghekiere told The Associated Press he heard about an active shooting over a dispatch radio at his job at the Billings airport. He called each member of his family, then raced across town. When he arrived, the house was burning. Two hours later, he learned his wife and children had been killed.

“I don’t think he expected my kids to be there,” Ghekiere said of his brother-in-law. “Monster isn’t even enough to describe what he did.”

He said police confirmed Charlotte was the person who called 911 from inside the home. “I keep hearing her quote to me every time I would say ‘I love you’ and she would say ‘I love you more,’” he said.

Friends have set up online fundraisers for the families, including one for Adam Ghekiere that had raised nearly $100,000 by Wednesday morning and another on behalf of Landon and Charlotte Ghekiere that had raised more than $60,000, CBS News reported.