A 12-year-old girl has been hailed as a hero after calling 911 from inside a Montana home as a gunman killed eight members of her extended family during a Sunday evening gathering outside Billings.
Charlotte Ghekiere was among the eight victims, four of whom were children. Family friend Jennifer Mercer said Charlotte made the emergency call in an attempt to save her relatives, and the family wanted her actions to be publicly recognized.
“The one thing we do know is that Charlotte was the hero,” Mercer said.
The gunman was identified by family member Brad Ireland as 44-year-old Alan Smith. According to Ireland, Smith had lived with his parents for several years before they recently asked him to leave. He returned unexpectedly on Sunday while relatives were gathering for their regular family dinner and opened fire.
Victims ranged from a child to a woman in her 90s
The victims belonged to four generations of the same blended family.
The oldest was Smith’s grandmother, Evelyn Smith, who was in her 90s, used a wheelchair and lived at a nearby retirement community. The youngest victim was 7-year-old Chloe Ireland.
Smith’s parents, Dana and Barb Smith, and his younger sister, Megan Ghekiere, were also killed.
Megan’s two children with her former husband, Brad Ireland—13-year-old Owen Ireland and 7-year-old Chloe—were among those killed. Her two stepchildren with her current husband, Adam Ghekiere—15-year-old Landon Ghekiere and 12-year-old Charlotte—also died.
Mercer, who was authorized by the family to release information about the victims, later launched an online fundraising appeal to help cover funeral and other expenses.
She described the family as close-knit and loving, saying the children had strong relationships with one another and that the adults remained on good terms after divorce. The killings have also deeply affected the wider community, including people who had never personally known the family.
Officers heard gunfire before house caught fire
Police officers arrived at the property Sunday evening and reported hearing gunshots coming from the rear of the home. Shortly afterward, the house was engulfed in flames.
Investigators confirmed Tuesday that eight people had been killed, including four children. Authorities said the suspect had also suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and later died.
Ireland said Smith killed his grandmother, parents, sister and the four children before setting the house on fire. He said Smith attempted to flee but encountered law enforcement.
Firefighters could not immediately enter the property because officers first had to secure the scene. Once the area was deemed safe, crews battled the fire until around 1 a.m. Monday, according to Billings Fire Department Chief Matt Hoppel.
The home was located outside Billings city limits in a subdivision without fire hydrants. The delay in beginning firefighting operations allowed the blaze to spread further through the property.
Family had moved to Montana from Washington
The family originally lived in the Seattle area. After Brad Ireland and Megan divorced six years ago, Megan moved to Montana with their children. She later married Adam Ghekiere.
Her parents, Dana and Barb Smith, subsequently moved to Montana and settled near Billings. Megan’s grandmother, Evelyn, lived separately at a nearby retirement community.
Alan Smith had also been living with his parents in Montana for several years before they asked him to leave. He returned to the family home Sunday evening while relatives were gathering for dinner.
Adam Ghekiere was at work and was not at the house when the shooting occurred.
Relative says there had been warning signs
Ireland, who lives in Arizona and lost his former wife and two children in the shooting, said relatives had previously noticed troubling behavior from Smith.
“There were many red flags and many people spoke out,” Ireland said. “No one listened.”
He described Smith as a “hermit” who usually stayed in his room and spent much of his time on a computer. Ireland said family members did not know what Smith was doing for most of the day.
Smith had attended Eastern Washington University but struggled to find and maintain employment. Criminal-record checks in Montana and Washington did not reveal any previous arrests or criminal charges against him.
Ireland said he was unaware of any history of physical violence involving Smith, although he described him as verbally abusive at times.
Friends of the victims have established two GoFundMe campaigns to support Adam Ghekiere and Erica Schneider, another family member affected by the tragedy.
Shooting is among year’s US mass killings
The Montana case is the 22nd US mass killing recorded this year by a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. Fifteen of those incidents were linked to domestic disputes.
James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminologist who oversees the database, said domestic disputes account for roughly half of US mass killings on average.
The Montana shooting is also the deadliest US mass killing since April. In that earlier Louisiana case, a father killed eight children—seven of them his own—and wounded his wife and another woman.
Husband rushed home after hearing shooting alert
Adam Ghekiere was working at Billings airport when he heard an active-shooter alert over a dispatch radio. He immediately called members of his family before driving across the city toward the Smith residence.
When he arrived, the house was already burning. About two hours later, he learned that his wife and children had been killed.
Ghekiere said he had not expected the children to attend the gathering because the family usually held its regular dinner on Fridays. Their unexpected presence on Sunday led him to believe Smith may not have anticipated that the children would be there.
“I don’t think he expected my kids to be there,” Ghekiere said of his brother-in-law.
Police later told him that Charlotte had made the emergency call from inside the house.
As he remembered his daughter, Ghekiere recalled a phrase that continues to resonate with him.
“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.
Fire damage complicates investigation
The blaze destroyed the house down to its foundation, leaving investigators concerned about the stability of the remaining structure.
Billings Police Department spokesperson Jeff Stovall said the extensive fire damage has complicated efforts to examine the scene and reconstruct what happened.
As investigators work to piece together the circumstances surrounding the shooting, Charlotte’s 911 call has emerged as one of the few known acts of resistance during the attack—and a final effort by the 12-year-old to protect the people she loved.
