Former Possessed guitarist Brian Montana died on Monday, April 29, during a shootout with police, the band has confirmed. He was 60.
The heavy metal musician was shot and killed by police near his Arroyo Drive home in San Francisco, according to authorities. South San Francisco police arrived at the home on Monday around 6 p.m. after receiving a call of a man brandishing a gun during a dispute with a neighbor.
They arrived to find the man, later identified as Montana, shooting into the occupied home, according to a press release. One person inside the home was taken to the hospital and treated for an injury that the network reported was not serious.
Police said Montana then moved to a nearby driveway and hid behind a car.
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“Over the next 25 minutes, the suspect armed himself with three different types of firearms (handgun, shotgun, and rifle) and fired at officers from different locations within the driveway,” the release stated.
Montana was hit at least once and officers said they waited before approaching him to make sure he was no longer a threat. He was pronounced dead at the scene and no police were injured.
“My understanding is they had a dispute over a tree that was hanging, this is how foolish this kind of thing is,” a witness told CBS News of the incident. “A dispute over a tree that one of them cut back, which is his right …and then somebody tried to settle it with a gun.”
The South San Francisco Police Department said it will release more information, including audio and video recordings, at a later time.
Possessed shared a comment about the shooting via the band’s Instagram Story early Friday, May 2, writing, “Very tragic news. Our sympathies to the Montana family and friends,” above an image of a news article. The band also posted a message that read “Rest In Peace Brian Montana” via Instagram Story on Wednesday, April 30, according to the Daily Mail.
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Possessed was founded in the early 1980s, when Montana joined after answering a newspaper ad placed by founding members Mike Torrao and Mike Sus. He played on the band’s 1984 demo titled Death Metal, which is credited with giving the genre its name, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Montana moved on from Possessed shortly after its release.
“I left the band because Torrao had a terrible attitude problem and wouldn’t stop ragging at me,” Montana said in an interview with Voices From the Darkside. “He was like some senile old lady that just wouldn’t shut up. He had a problem with my image. He didn’t think I was evil enough or something. He was always ragging on me to wear an upside-down crucifix and be satanic.”
Montana is the second member of Possessed to be shot. Vocalist Jeff Becerra was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot twice as a bystander during a robbery in 1989.
