It was a regular Saturday night out in Kalamazoo.
A father and son looking at cars. A group of friends ready to go home after a night out.
All of them had their lives cut short over the weekend by a shooting rampage in the Michigan city. Each one was cut down in by a person who fired indiscriminately while driving from location to location.
Jason Brian Dalton, a 45-year-old Uber driver, is now in custody.
Authorities don’t yet know what prompted the shootings — first at an apartment complex, then at a car dealership, and finally outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant.
What they do know is that over the course of seven hours, six people were killed and two were left injured.
This is what we know about them:
Richard Smith
The first fatalities occurred at the second shooting scene. A father and son were shot at the Seelye Kia of Kalamazoo car dealership on Stadium Drive.
Richard Smith, 53, was out car shopping with his son just before 10:30 p.m., according to The Kalamazoo Gazette.
Tyler Smith
Smith had a 17-year-old son, Tyler, who was a senior at Mattawan High School.
Mattawan School District Superintendent Robin Buchler told the Gazette that news of the younger Smith’s death left his classmates in disbelief. “We have kids that are just really panicking a bit,” she said.
Tyler Smith was enrolled in the marketing entrepreneurship program and had been a student at Mattawan schools since the eighth grade, Buchler told the Gazette. She told CNN affiliate WOOD that Tyler was well-liked and always had a smile on his face.
Barbara Hawthorne
Barbara Hawthorne died along with three friends in the third and final shooting, which took place in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Texas Township. The group had attended a performance at Western Michigan University’s Miller Auditorium earlier that evening, according to The Kalamazoo Gazette. The group had returned to the Cracker Barrel, where they’d had dinner earlier in the evening, to retrieve their cars, a Chevrolet Cruze and an Oldsmobile minivan.
Hawthorne hailed from Battle Creek, Michigan. She worked for Kellogg Co. for 22 years and retired in 2008, according to a statement procured by the Lansing State Journal. “We are deeply saddened by these tragic events and brokenhearted to learn that one of the victims … belonged to our Kellogg family,” the statement read.
Police say Hawthorne was found in the back seat of Mary Jo Nye’s Chevrolet Cruze.
Mary Lou Nye and Mary Jo Nye
Mary Lou Nye, 62, and Mary Jo Nye, 60, were sisters-in-law who had been friends since they were roommates at Western Michigan University, according to The Kalamazoo Gazette. Mary Lou met and married one of Mary Jo’s older brothers, and the couple had been married for about 40 years. He is a retired auto mechanic suffering from an autoimmune disorder, the couple’s son, Bart Nye, told the Gazette.
Mary Lou was the youngest of five children and doted on her grandson, according to Bart. She worked as the manager of the South Haven branch of the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office before it closed several years ago. Since then, she’d worked at a day care center.
Mary Jo was the sixth in a group of seven siblings, Bart said. She was a teacher at Calhoun Community High School who could inspire troubled students to stay in school, and she liked to sew and quilt.
Tara Egnatuk, the school assistant for Calhoun Community High School, told the Lansing State Journal that even though Mary Jo retired about four years ago, she continued to attend graduation every year. “She became like a mother to a lot of kids,” Egnatuk said.
Bart told The Kalamazoo Gazette that the two had maintained their relationship through periodic outings like the one they were on Saturday night.
Mary Lou was found at the wheel of the minivan, and Mary Jo was in the compact car, according to the Michigan State Police.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover their funeral expenses.
Dorothy Brown
Dorothy Brown, 74, was described by a neighbor as “the sweet little old lady of the neighborhood.” Daniel Arnold lived next door to her for three years and said most people knew her as “Judy.” He told CNN affiliate WXYZ that she lived alone with her two cats, and even though she suffered from emphysema, he saw her regularly. “It was an everyday thing,” Arnold said. “If she wasn’t out here doing something in the front yard, she was in the backyard taking care of things.”
Brown’s body was found in the rear seat of Mary Jo Nye’s compact car, according to The Kalamazoo Gazette.
The two victims who lived
One woman was injured during the first shooting incident. She was in an apartment complex with her three children and is expected to recover. Police have not released her name.
They have also not released the name of the eighth victim, who was shot at the restaurant. She is a 14-year-old girl who was initially thought to have been killed but is now listed in critical condition, according to state police.
The girl was being kept on life support at Bronson Methodist Hospital so her organs could be donated, Michigan State Police First Lt. Dale Hinz said. While her mother was holding her hand, she suddenly squeezed back, Hinz said, adding, “the only word to describe it is ‘wow.’ “
