'She Is A Hero': Girl Shot 4 Times Alerts Police In MI Shooting Spree

MISSAUKEE COUNTY, MI — A 13-year-old girl is being hailed a hero after alerting police in a northern Michigan shooting spree that left six dead last Friday.

David Everitt of Cadillac has identified his daughter, Amanda, 40, and her 16-year-old son, Eric, as two of those killed in the shooting at the family's home on South LaChance Road in Lake Township.

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He also said Amanda's daughter, 13-year-old Bella Everitt, was shot four times and managed to call 911 and identify the shooter.

He told the Detroit Free Press her injuries included gunshot wounds to her arm and esophagus. She was listed in stable condition at an area hospital, according to police.

Police also found a 45-year-old man shot to death inside the home. Everitt told the Free Press it was his daughter's boyfriend, Shane McGowan, who was living inside the home with her two kids.

"God be with you Amanda and Eric and prayers for Bella who while shot 4 times still managed to call 911 and identify the shooter..She is a hero," David Everitt posted on social media.

He also called the shooting "a cowardly act by a evil person," adding, "I hope hell gives him his due."

Family members have created a GoFundMe post on behalf of David and the fathers of Bella and Eric. They also said donations will help cover funeral expenses for Amanda and Eric and long-term support for Bella.

"Their families are carrying the heavy weight of devastating loss while also trying to support Bella through the difficult road ahead, and any help will mean so much during this heartbreaking time," Kailey Kozminski, who identified herself as Amanda's niece, wrote in the post.

Officers later found a 53-year-old man shot dead at a separate home in Missaukee County. They have not disclosed the exact location or community.

Officers eventually found the shooter, 39-year-old Chad Hickman, dead alongside a fatally shot 29-year-old woman inside a vehicle near a wooded area close to Whitlock Lake in Caldwell Township, police said.

Hickman's neighbor told UpNorthLive that Hickman's behavior had recently become violent and threatening, adding he never saw him with a weapon, but anticipated violence.

"We thought, you know, maybe one day he'd go off the handle and maybe get in a fight with somebody and go back to jail, but we didn't think he was going to murder six people," the neighbor told the news station.

Court records showed Hickman's troubled past, including a 2024 conviction for misdemeanor fourth-degree child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of children, according to court records reviewed by The Detroit News.

He had also been going through a divorce, a marriage that a judge said was marked by "significant dysfunction and mutual toxicity," with both parties accusing the other of domestic violence.

Police have not identified a motive behind the shooting.