Five people were killed in a Michigan shooting spree on Friday, and the suspected gunman was later found dead.
The bloodshed was first discovered at a home in Missaukee County, where police found three dead people shortly before noon, according to state police. Two more slain victims were later found — one in the woods near Whitlock Lake and another in a separate home. Another person was left in critical condition.
The carnage prompted a frantic search for the 39-year-old suspect, Chad Hickman, who police said was considered armed and dangerous. Hickman was eventually found dead, though it wasn’t immediately clear how he died.
“Not only is this difficult for our investigators and our troopers, but it’s very hard for this community. You know, this type of loss is tragic,” a Michigan State Police spokesperson told Up North Live in a statement.
“And we’re going to conduct a thorough investigation and we want to make sure to keep our community members up to date on our current situation and what we’re discovering throughout this process.”
Troopers had identified Hickman as a person of interest from the Lake City/Jennings area. Police said he may have been driving a white pickup truck during the manhunt.
The violence unfolded across multiple locations in the rural northern Michigan county. Missaukee County, with a population of about 15,000, sits in the Cadillac micropolitan area.
In the viral moment that sparked national attention, the scale of the bloodshed — five dead plus a critically wounded survivor — made this one of the deadliest shooting incidents in Michigan this year. The discovery of bodies spread across homes and wooded terrain suggested a methodical rampage rather than a single isolated confrontation.
The investigation remained active as authorities worked to determine the exact circumstances of Hickman’s death and the full timeline of the killings. Police did not immediately release the names of the victims or details about their relationships to the suspect.
The killings came amid a violent stretch in Michigan that has seen multiple deadly incidents in recent weeks, though authorities have not suggested any connection between this spree and other cases.