Six Dead at Multiple Locations in “Random” Kalamazoo Shooting
Starting at around 6:00 p.m. this evening until roughly 1 a.m., an unidentified shooter killed six people seemingly at random in multiple locations throughout Kalamazoo, Michigan. Two more victims remain in critical condition, and the suspect, a 45-year-old man, is currently in custody.
Police aren’t currently disclosing details of the shooter’s actions. Though they did confirm that “these weren’t drive-bys,” and all of the victims were either outside or in their cars at the time they were shot. What’s more, three different locations appear to have been targeted, including the parking lots of a Cracker Barrel, a Ford dealership, and an apartment complex. In total, there were initially four dead at the Cracker Barrel and two dead at the dealership, with a 14-year old girl from that dealership dying later in the evening.
In addition to the seven deaths, a woman who was shot in the apartment complex parking is in “very serious condition,” while another from the Cracker Barrel remains in “very grave condition.”
After being pushed by a reporter (seen in the clip above), an officer did explain that “at some point, [the shooter] confronts them an shoots them, but the details of what he did—which is how we’re able to link all these—that will come later.” A local NBC affiliate added that [Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul] Matyas “told NBC News the suspect got out of his car at the Cracker Barrel and had a brief conversation with people in two other cars before firing into both vehicles.”
According to police, there’s no known reason why any of these people might have been targeted, and “there’s no connection between any of them. This all appears to be random. This is your worst case scenario that any community can have.” Later in the clip above, the officer continues:
We have no motive whatsoever for this. But we’re also hampered by the fact that all the persons involved in this who could have talked—they’re dead. And the others all in critical or grave conditions an they’re in hospitals. So much of that information is just not known at this time.
Police did find a weapon in the suspect’s vehicle, but aren’t going into detail about what exactly that means at this time. They are, however, “extremely confident” that the person currently in custody is, in fact, the “right individual.”
Update 9:54 a.m.
This post has been edited to reflect that six—not seven—people were reported dead. According to the New York Times, authorities miscounted the number of fatalities after a teenage girl, who was “gravely injured,” was listed as dead.
Correction: A previous version of this post included reports stating that an 8-year-old child was among the victims. Officers now say that early reports were mistaken. This post has been updated to reflect that.
