Multiple shootings leave 6 dead, 3 injured in Michigan

Multiple shootings have left six people dead and three others injured in various locations in Kalamazoo, Michigan, officials say.

The incident happened on Saturday night after a man drove around Kalamazoo, shooting dead six people at a Cracker Barrel and a car dealership.

Four of the victims were fatally shot in the Cracker Barrel in Texas Township, while two others were struck at Seelye Kia dealership.

“We’ve had several shootings here tonight, in the county and the city of Kalamazoo,” said Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas.

“They all appear to be related. We have multiple people dead. In summary what it looks like is we have somebody just driving around, finding people and shooting them dead in their tracks.”

No further details were released, but police said a woman was shot several times at Meadows Townhomes and was rushed to the hospital, in unknown condition.

Police arrested a suspect who they described as a white male believed to be in his late 50s.

“The threat to the public is over. We now have our suspect,” Matyas said.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), firearms are the cause of death for more than 33,000 people in the United States every year, a number that includes accidental discharge, murder and suicides.

Polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans, including 84 percent of gun owners, believe background checks are necessary for gun purchases made at gun shows or online.

Americans are 25 times more likely to be murdered by a gun than people in other developed nations, according to a study released earlier this month.

Overall the death rate involving guns in the United States is 10 times higher than 22 other high-income countries, researchers from the University of Nevada-Reno and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found.

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