New details have emerged regarding the shooting spree that left a teenager, mom and four others dead in an Up North Michigan county this August.
Chad Hickman, 39, of Lake City, is suspected of killing five people, then himself, in attacks at three locations in Missaukee County. A 13-year-old girl, reportedly the first to alert police to the shootings on Aug. 14, also was injured.
Nearly a week later, Michigan State Police identified those slain by name, including one person who had not yet been identified publicly by family members: John Schwartz.
Schwartz was previously married to Hickman's mother, court records indicated.
The others killed were an apparent sister of Hickman, a one-time friend of Hickman, that friend’s girlfriend and her son.
Hickman
was described in an interview and court records as being a dangerous man known to rape and strangle his ex-wife.
Here’s what we know about the shooting victims:
Bella Padilla Everitt, 13
Bella Padilla Everitt is the lone survivor of the mass shooting.
She’s a “hero,” who, after being shot, directed police to Hickman, said her grandfather, David Everitt.
David Everitt believes the 13-year-old girl was shot in her bedroom on South LaChance Road in Lake Township, about 25 miles west of Houghton Lake, and called 911 while in and out of consciousness.
The 13-year-old was released from the ICU on the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 19, and transferred to a rehabilitation center in the hospital, her grandfather told the Free Press on Thursday, Aug. 20. She is expected to begin physical therapy immediately.
She writes poems and is shy but can warm right up and make friends easily, the grandfather said. She also was close to her brother.
Eric Thomas, 16
Eric Thomas just reached his milestone birthday of 16 years old.
He celebrated with a birthday party the weekend before the shooting.
He was into video games, fishing and dirt bikes, and he was preparing for his junior year at Lake City High School.
He was found dead at the LaChance Road home, along with his mom and her boyfriend, the grandfather said.
Amanda Everitt, 40
Amanda Everitt, mother to Bella and Eric, worked as an aide in a nursing home for several years, her father said.
She later decided to be a stay-at-home mom for her kids.
Shane McGowan, 45
Shane McGowan, 45, was the boyfriend of Amanda Everitt. He lived with her and her two children, their grandfather said.
McGowan did outdoor stuff with the kids, like biking and swimming in their pool.
He and Hickman had been friends since childhood, Everitt said.
Heather Schwartz, 29
Heather Schwartz, 29, was found dead near Hickman in a wooded area close to Whitlock Lake in Caldwell Township.
Police reports indicated she was a sister to Hickman.
A sister to them both said Heather Schwartz was very honest, kind and loving but was “brainwashed” by Hickman into thinking he was a victim, The Detroit News reported.
John Schwartz, 53
John Schwartz, 53, was previously married to Hickman's mother.
Their divorce was finalized in 2020, court records show.
After the shooting on LaChance Road, amid their manhunt, police found Schwartz's body at a second home.
Michigan State Police have not yet announced a suspected motive in the deaths.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Up North mass killing survivor, 13, heads to rehab as police name victims
