Posted on 05/01/2021 4:30:54 AM PDT by Eddie01
The first suspect in Saturday morning's shooting at an off-campus party was charged with 10 counts on Wednesday afternoon, including two that potentially carry sentences of life.
Kenneth Wayne Thomas, Jr., was charged with two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, two counts of discharging a gun at a building known to be a home and causing serious injury, one count of discharging a gun at a building known to be a home and five counts of felony firearm before Chief Judge Eric Janes.
Assault with intent to commit murder potentially carries a life sentence; discharging a firearm at a home causing injury is a 20-year felony; discharging a firearm at a home is a 10-year felony; and felony firearm -- using a gun while committing a felony -- is a two-year felony, with the sentence to run consecutive to the underlying crime.
Thomas, 21, of Farmington Hills, is accused of shooting Tyler Bunting, a senior from DeWitt, and John Keller, 20, a quarterback with CMU's football team, after he and two friends were kicked out of an afterhours party at which they were involved in a fight.
One arrested in CMU shooting; another arrest likely One suspect has been arrested in the shooting of two Central Michigan University students at a party last Saturday morning. Police officials s…
Thomas and another man -- identified in the criminal complaint as another suspect -- grabbed guns from the silver Impala they went to the party with. While a witness told police that the other man had fired into the air, Thomas fired a round at the apartment and then fired two more rounds into it after going to its porch.
According to the criminal complaint, detectives investigating the case watched video in which the witness unsuccessful attempted to stop Thomas.
One round hit Bunting in the side/abdomen and one hit Keller in the chest. Bunting was most recently reported in stable condition at Mid-Michigan Medical Center-Midland and Keller was most recently reported in serious condition in Hurley Medical Center. A GoFundMe campaign was set up to assist Keller's family with medical costs.
Thomas, the other man identified as a suspect and a third man went to the party at apartment C-6 at Deerfield Village Apartments, 3400 E. Deerfield Road, in Union Township, Friday night. The party was described in the criminal complaint as one for football players.
A fight broke out involving the three of them, and they were thrown out. As soon as they were, according to the criminal complaint, Thomas when and got a gun called a Draco from the car. The other man grabbed an AR-15.
A Draco is a Romanian version of the Kalishnikov rifle design, smaller and more portable. The one that Thomas is accused of using didn't have a stock.
A second witness told officers that Thomas had walked into an apartment in Copper Beach on Thursday morning with the Draco under his pants leg. The witness said there were social media messages about a Draco stolen from a party Wednesday night.
Thomas was arrested Tuesday afternoon in the Detroit area by detectives from the Isabella County Sheriff's Office, assisted by the Michigan State Police fugitive team.
Investigators spent three days poring over videos and social media posts, and interviewing witnesses and executing search warrants. A second arrest is expected in the case. The criminal complaint identifies the man believed to have pulled the AR-15 from the car as a suspect.
Thomas was given a $1 million bond by Janes, who cited the severity of the alleged crimes and the fact that the accused has no ties to Isabella County.
He is currently scheduled for a 9 a.m. May 13 preliminary hearing.
hmmm. close to home. i was at CMU ‘68-’69. my how times have changed.
thanks for posting.
AK "pistol"(stolen) was used...helpful!
Having a gun in the car going to a party...makes your chest push out at the party. Humility is better.
It’s like having that zinger of a comeback ready for your brother-in-law in case he brings up that issue again...it WILL get used, and most unfortunately.
His defenmaybe the guys feared the ‘govnor’ and AG..
It doesn’t matter to the narrative since it will be totally ignored.
: ) true
Most probably.
Another black-on-white assault that will be buried by the end of the day.
Meanwhile, I’m getting breathless, every 1/2 hour national media reports on the shooting of knife-wielding Ma’Khia Bryant.
Feral fever strikes again.
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