The top photos of the day by AP's photojournalists

From front page news to powerful moments you may have missed, this gallery showcases today's top photos, chosen by Associated Press photo editors.

A wand with a star is placed over Dolly Parton's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Humanoid robots compete in dance during the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Palestinians inspect the Abu Salim Mosque a day after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

People hold Ukrainian flags as the Eiffel Tower is illuminated with the colors of Ukraine in honor of it's Independence Day and to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of the country, in Paris, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

People use umbrellas to shield themselves from the scorching sun Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

New Zealand's players perform the Haka during an international friendly rugby match between Lions and New Zealand, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A Muslim faithful prays as she marches in Lagos, Nigeria, to mark Prophet Muhammad's birthday, known as Mawlid, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Skeletal remains inside the Espiritu Santo Hospital from 1575, according to archeologists from ProLima, are exposed during excavation at the Sanctuary of Santa Rosa de Lima, in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

People watch the sun set over Lake Ontario, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Olcott, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

A resident stands outside a damaged home after a tornado ravaged the small village of Pomas in southern France, Tuesday Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Frederic Lancelot)

Yakoub Durak stacks wood into a pile at a charcoal production site in a forest in Kocaeli province, Turkey, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. A handful of family-run producers continue the region’s traditional practice of slowly carbonizing hardwood in earthen kilns to make charcoal for barbecues and restaurants. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Rohingyas gather during an event at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, marking the anniversary of the their exodus. (AP Photo/Abdul Goni)

A woman shops at a butcher shop that remains open amid shuttered businesses in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)

Serena Williams, of the United States, signs autographs for fans following a mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A man stands on a boat over a coral reef in the Dutch Cays of Guna Yala on Panama's Caribbean coast, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A man killed eight of his relatives, including four children, as they gathered for Sunday dinner at a home outside Billings, Montana, weeks after his parents asked him to move out, a family member told The Associated Press.

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.

The victims represented four generations of the blended family, ranging from a great-grandmother in her 90s who used a wheelchair to a 7-year-old girl, according to Jennifer Mercer, a neighbor and family friend who set up an online fundraiser to help cover funeral costs and other expenses, and was authorized to release these details.

Police responded to the home on Sunday evening and heard gunshots coming from out back, just before the house was completely engulfed in flames. Investigators confirmed Tuesday there were eight victims, including four children, and that the suspect had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and later died.

The investigation has been complicated by concerns about the structural integrity of the house after the fire burned it to its foundation, said Jeff Stovall, a spokesperson for the Billings Police Department.

Firefighters fought the blaze until around 1 a.m. Monday, according to Billings Fire Department Chief Matt Hoppel. The home is in a subdivision outside of city limits that’s not required to have fire hydrants.

Efforts to fight the fire were delayed until the site was secure, allowing the blaze to tear through the home.

Among those killed were Ireland’s ex-wife, Megan Ghekiere, and their two children, Owen Ireland, 13, and Chloe Ireland, 7. Also killed were Ghekiere’s two stepchildren with her current husband: Landon Ghekiere, 15, and Charlotte Ghekiere, 12.

“The one thing we do know is that Charlotte was the hero,” 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 Smith family was originally from the Seattle area. Ireland said that after he and Megan Ghekiere divorced six years ago, she moved to Montana with their children. That's where she met the man who would become her second husband, Adam Ghekiere, who was working and not at the home when the shooting occurred.

Her parents, Dana and Barb Smith, soon followed, buying a house in Billings near their daughter’s home. Evelyn Smith, Dana’s elderly mother, lived in a nearby retirement community, Ireland said.

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, where the Smiths had gathered for a weekly family dinner.

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

“There were many red flags and many people spoke out,” said Ireland, who lives in Arizona. “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.

Friends of the victims have set up two GoFundMe accounts to raise money on behalf of Adam Ghekiere and his ex-wife, Erica Schneider.

Adam Ghekiere, who works at the airport in Billings, told the AP that he heard over a dispatch radio about an active shooting. After calling each member of his family, he raced across town to the Smith home.

When he got there, the house was ablaze, and two hours later, he learned his wife and children had been killed. His children weren't supposed to be there because family dinner was usually on Friday, he said.

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

Ghekiere said police confirmed his daughter, Charlotte, was the one who dialed 911 from inside the house.

“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.

The shootings were the 22nd mass killing this year, according to a database maintained by the AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

Fifteen of those have stemmed from domestic disputes, which is higher than the average of about 50% of U.S. mass killings, said James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University who manages the database.

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.

—-

Biesecker reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press writers Gene Johnson in Seattle and Mikella Schuettler in Phoenix contributed.

—-

Schuettler is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Investigators work at the scene Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, where a family was killed and a house burned in Billings, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

A house where a family was killed is seen, Tuesday Aug. 25, 2026, in Billings Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

Investigators work at the scene Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, where a family was killed and the house burned in Billings, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)