The Missaukee County mass shooting has left six people dead, including the man police believe carried out the attack, and one more person fighting for life in a hospital. The violence unfolded Friday across a stretch of heavily wooded countryside near Cadillac in northern Michigan, in a county so small that almost everyone knows someone touched by it.

Michigan State Police confirmed the death toll Friday evening. Investigators identified the suspect as 39-year-old Chad Hickman of Lake City, whose body was recovered in a wooded area close to Whitlock Lake in Caldwell Township, roughly five miles north of where the first victims were discovered. Authorities withheld the ages and identities of those killed while families were being notified.

How the Day Unfolded

The first call came in shortly before noon. Troopers were dispatched to a residence on South LaChance Road in Lake Township after someone reported a person had been shot. What they found inside was far worse than a single victim: three people dead, and a fourth clinging to life. That person was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

By the time officers arrived, the suspect was already gone. That set off a wide search involving state police aircraft and canine teams across a landscape of dense forest and scattered rural roads. During that sweep, officers discovered a fourth body at a separate home elsewhere in Missaukee County.

The search ended when troopers located a vehicle believed to belong to Hickman parked near Whitlock Lake. His body was found in the woods nearby, along with the remains of a fifth victim.

In total, the crime scene stretched across at least three distinct locations in a county of only about 15,000 residents, situated roughly 25 miles west of Houghton Lake.

An Active Scene Into the Night

Well into Friday night, the investigation was still very much alive. At 10 p.m., LaChance Road remained shut at its junction with Rosted Road as investigators worked the wooded terrain. State police also closed South LaChance between West Rosted Road and West Jennings Road.

Local businesses found themselves inside the perimeter. One of the scenes sat on LaChance Road just north of a local auto parts shop, and officers blocked the roadway in front of a nearby convenience store and gas station. A worker there described being effectively sealed off, with customers unable to reach the building.

Earlier in the day, while the manhunt was still active, police had issued a public alert describing Hickman as armed and dangerous, urging residents not to approach him and to call 911 immediately with any sighting.

What Records Show About the Suspect

Court documents paint a picture of a man with a troubled recent history. Hickman had finalized a divorce in a case filed in 2025. In that proceeding, the judge noted that allegations of domestic violence on both sides were not disputed by either party and sat at the center of what the court had to resolve.

Separately, circuit court records show he was convicted in 2024 of misdemeanor fourth-degree child abuse and of contributing to the delinquency of children, charges connected to a case dating back to 2010. He received a jail term of 365 days and was ordered to pay roughly $1,775 in fines and court costs.

Investigators have not publicly stated a motive, and police cautioned that the inquiry remains ongoing.

The Second Mass Killing in Michigan in Three Weeks

The tragedy arrives painfully soon after another. On July 24, seven members of a single family in Grand Haven Township were shot to death by the father, who then took his own life. His victims included his wife and six children ranging in age from 5 to 15. The bodies were found inside the family home, which had been set on fire.

Two such events in under a month has left many across the state unsettled, particularly in smaller communities where violence on this scale feels almost unimaginable.

A Community Trying to Absorb the Shock

Lake City sits about six miles east of where the shootings began. One resident there said he had driven past the flashing police lights on LaChance Road that afternoon on his way to Cadillac, with no idea what he was passing. When the details emerged hours later, he was left angry and bewildered, calling the act cowardly and wondering aloud what has gone wrong with people.

State Representative Ken Borton, whose district includes the area, asked residents to keep the region in their thoughts. He urged people to pray for the six families who lost someone and for the survivor still in critical condition to make a full recovery.

Michigan State Police Lieutenant Ashley Miller acknowledged the weight of the case on both the community and the officers working it, describing the situation as heartbreaking and the investigation as demanding. She said the department intends to conduct a thorough review and will share new information as it becomes available.

What Comes Next

For now, key questions remain open. Police have not explained how the victims were connected to one another or to the suspect, nor why the violence moved between multiple properties. The condition of the surviving victim has not been updated publicly.

What is already clear is the scale of the loss relative to the place where it happened. In a county this size, six deaths in a single afternoon ripple outward through schools, churches, workplaces and family lines almost immediately. Residents spent Friday night waiting for names they were afraid to hear.

Authorities have asked anyone with information relevant to the investigation to contact Michigan State Police.

A note on this material: the reporting touches on domestic violence and a death by apparent suicide. If any part of this is close to home for you, I’m happy to help you find appropriate support services.