Update on Mass Murder in Western Michigan: Nine Hit (Not Eight, as Previously Reported), Five Dead, so Far; Earlier Report of Children Hit was Incorrect; Killer Had Already been Sought, Due to Erratic Driving

 

 

Re-posted by Nicholas Stix

Reader note: The updated story was published by KTAR in reverse order.
 

Latest: Authorities were searching for driver who hit bikers
By Associated Press
June 7, 2016 @ 8:23 pm [11 p.m.]
AP-KTAR



CORRECTS FROM COPPER TO COOPER- Police and rescue workers attend to the scene after multiple bicyclists were struck by a vehicle in a deadly crash Tuesday, June 7, 2016, in Cooper Township, Mich. (Chelsea Purgahn/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group via AP) LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL RADIO OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
COOPER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The Latest on a collision [sic] between a pickup truck and group of bicyclists in western Michigan (all times local):
11 p.m.

Authorities were searching for the driver of a blue pickup truck in the minutes before he plowed into a group of adults bicycling near a western Michigan Park.
Kalamazoo Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting said at a news conference Tuesday night that five of the nine bicyclists struck were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash in Cooper Township.

Getting says the calls made to several area agencies were “over concerns” about the pickup driver’s driving. He says authorities were searching for the driver, but there was no active pursuit at the time of the accident.

The driver is described as a 50-year-old from western Michigan. He was arrested not far from where the damaged pickup stopped.

The names and ages of the victims weren’t released. The riders who survived suffered serious injuries. None of the victims are children, as an official had said earlier.

Getting says the bicyclists were riding as a group.

 

 
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10:15 p.m.

A fire official has confirmed at least five people were killed after the driver of a pickup truck plowed into a group of bicyclists along a street in western Michigan.

Cooper Township Fire Chief Terry Emig tells WZZM-TV Tuesday night at least five of the people struck have died.

The group was hit earlier in the evening near a park in the Kalamazoo area, south of Grand Rapids.

Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas tells local media at least eight people were hit, and some of those were children. He says the driver struck the bicyclists and fled on foot but was later arrested.

The Associated Press left messages seeking comment from Matyas and Emig.

No further details were immediately available. A news conference was scheduled for late Tuesday night.