Update November 7, 1:00 p.m.
Police are beginning to reveal more details about the man they say is responsible for shootings along the I-96 corridor.
They have confirmed that Raulie Wayne Casteel is being held in the Oakland County jail while he awaits arraignment, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office and four Michigan counties are meeting to determine what charges to file against the 43-year-old Wixom man.
Police say prosecutors have until tomorrow night to charge him or let him go, the Free Press reports.
From the Free Press:
As he awaits charges, details about Casteel's arrest are being released. Investigators with the task force created to track down the shooter reinterviewed victims over the weekend. One of those witnesses remembered key details about the black, four-door car spotted during the crimes: a state-issued Michigan State University license plate with a green S on the left, surrounded by an MSU alumni license plate frame, according to Michigan State Police investigators. Casteel was arrested at his home Monday night. During the raid, police seized two handguns, which have been sent for forensic testing, according to task force investigators. The task force said that at least eight bullet fragments have been tied to the same handgun.
While the suspect's motive remains unclear, interviews with Casteel's mother suggest that he may have been mentally ill.
Police say they are confident that Casteel is the shooter and that he acted alone.
November 6, 4:44 p.m.
A 43-year-old Wixom man will soon be charged with some of the shootings along the I-96 corridor last month.
Twenty-four cars were struck by bullets, with one person suffering a minor injury. It’s unclear how many of the shooting incidents the unidentified man will be charged with.
Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth says police didn’t get lucky.
He credits "good police work" with sifting through more than 2,800 tips from the public to catch the suspect.
The joint local, state, federal task force used software to sift through the tips that flooded in from the public after the reward was upped to $102,000.
Wriggelsworth isn’t sure if any one tipster will receive the reward money.
It's not clear when the suspect will be charged. He could face a judge Thursday or Friday. Prosecutors are trying to decide whether to press charges in the four different counties where the shootings took place or charge the suspect federally, or do both.
Wriggelsworth declines to speculate on a motive for the shootings.
“I don’t know if you could ever develop a motive for someone who shot at 24 different vehicles,” says Wriggelsworth, “It’s so random that I don’t know there is a motive.”
November 6, 2:23 p.m.
Authorities have arrested a 43 year-old Wixom man connected to a series of shootings on and around I-96.
Police say the arrest occurred last night at the suspect's home and was the result of information received in the past few days.
Potential evidence was collected at the home and is being tested by police crime labs.
The suspect's vehicle is known to match the description given by one of the shooting victims. Police have released no further information on the suspect at this time.
Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody will have more as the story develops.
- Jordan Wyant, Michigan Radio Newsroom
