Investigators believe three shootings at passing vehicles Monday in Washtenaw County are linked, according to the FBI, Michigan State Police and other law enforcement agencies now organizing to track the suspect.
Crime scene technicians found bullet fragments in two of the three shootings, officials confirmed after meeting at the Pittsfield Township Department of Public Safety today. The drivers were not injured.
Now, officers want motorists to be on the lookout for anything suspicious, Pittsfield Township Police Chief Matthew Harshberger and 1st Lt. Joel Allen of MSP's Brighton Post said today. They're also asking for additional information from possible witnesses to Monday night's incidents.
"Maybe there was someone in the area of one of those shootings that may be able to give us a piece of information that's what we need to narrow in on a subject," Allen said. Investigators did not release information on what type of vehicle may be involved.
The almost identical incidents happened within a 45-minute window and within 15 miles of each other, making investigators believe they are linked, Harshberger confirmed.
"Upon reviewing the cases, we do believe that the three incidences that occurred Monday evening are related, and we are investigating those cases collectively with the State Police," Harshberger said.
Members of the FBI, Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office and other area departments met at the Pittsfield Township Department of Public Safety on East Michigan Avenue this morning to organize an investigation.
Although the officials have not officially formed a task force like that created during a series of roadway shootings last fall, they will use many of the same techniques, Harshberger said.
Two drivers reported shots fired while they were driving between 5:30 and 6 p.m. Monday in Bridgewater Township, according the Michigan State Police Brighton Post.
The shootings were reported on Austin Road between Schneider Road and Ernst Road in Bridgewater Township, according to an MSP report. In the first, a Manchester, Mich., man said he and a passenger were in a 2005 Chevy Silverado pickup driving west on Austin Road, east of Ernst Road when a shot rang out. In the second, a woman from Adrian told investigators she was driving a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix alone, west on Austin Road, west of Schneider Road, when someone shot at her car. Investigators found a bullet fragment related to one of those shootings, Allen said.
Then at 6:15 p.m., a 72-year-old woman called Pittsfield Township Police to report a bullet hit her driver's side door as she drove west on Michigan Avenue, east of Industrial Drive, through Pittsfield Township.
"She heard a loud noise, a bang," Harshberger said. "She got to her residence and she noticed a hole in her driver's door and she called us. ...very surprised and a little bit distraught."
MSP Brighton Sgt. Chris Pascoe said a fourth incident was reported on westbound I-94 between 6 and 7 p.m. Tuesday. But he said investigators believe either an errant rock broke the vehicle's window or it shattered when the driver hit a bump in the road, Allen said.
Investigators will be re-interviewing all of the drivers, as well as a truck driver and the man he reported who had a pistol on his front seat while driving on U.S.-23 south of I-96 in Green Oak Township at 5:20 p.m. Tuesday.
Allen said investigators determined that driver had a concealed pistol license for the gun and don't believe the incident was related to Monday's shootings.
"We did seize his firearm at this point, and if it looks like those fragments we've recovered could have possibly come from that weapon, we'll determine that," Allen said. "But at this point, based on the information collected at the scene, that incident was not related to the incidents in Bridgewater Township or Pittsfield Township."
The allegations echo incidents reported along the I-96 corridor in October.
Raulie Casteel is accused of shooting at 24 people, mostly motorists, on Oct. 16-18 and Oct. 27 in Oakland, Livingston, Shiawassee and Ingham counties. He faces multiple charges, including assault with intent to murder and terrorism. His lawyers said recently that he suffers from delusional disorder. But two judges in January declared Casteel competent to stand trial on the charges.
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
