‘Stray bullet’ kills man as shots fired at Kalamazoo apartment complex

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Authorities say a man was killed by a stray bullet that went through the apartment he was in.

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said it was called around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday for reports of shots fired and a person shot at Interfaith Homes near the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Prouty Street.

When officers arrived, KDPS said they found crashed cars, at least one of which had multiple bullet holes in it; multiple shell casings; and a small crowd of uncooperative onlookers.

In a nearby apartment, KDPS said officers found a man unresponsive with a gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. KDPS identified him as Mark Wayne Jackson, 53, of New Baltimore.

KDPS Capt. Rafael Diaz told News 8 that Jackson did not live at the apartment and was there visiting family. He offered KDPS’ “sincerest condolences.”

“This is awful. (He) had no interaction in what was occurring, and has died, and he was killed by a bullet. I can tell you that we’re in contact with the family and that we’re diligently pursuing every lead that we can to hopefully bring some measure of closure to the family,” Diaz said.

Investigators said the suspect fired “multiple” shots at a vehicle and then ran away. No one inside the car was injured. However, one of the rounds went through the front door of the apartment, hitting and killing Jackson.

“The activity that occurred in the parking lot … was between an individual and the occupants of that vehicle,” Diaz said. “The bullet that killed our victim was a random stray bullet.”

A total of three cars were involved. On Wednesday, two crashed vehicles remained at the apartment complex. The third had been impounded.

“We’re talking to everybody that we know was here, we’ve gotten initial statements, and then we’re gathering initial evidence,” Diaz said.

He could not comment on any leads his department was following. No suspect description was released.

Diaz said many of his detectives were getting ready for bed when he called them in to the shooting scene.

“None of us have been to bed yet,” he said. “But this is what we’re going to do, right? We’re not going to slow down or stop, and if there’s leads to chase, we’re going to chase them. And that’s what we’re doing right now: We’re following all of those leads. And we won’t stop until we’ve uncovered them and we’ll continue to persist.”

Diaz called on anyone with information to come forward, either by calling KDPS or Silent Observer.

“Certainly, there are people that we have yet to talk to. Maybe there’s a stone that needs to be turned that we don’t know exists yet,” he said. “And I hope someone who’s watching this right now will say, ‘I saw something,’ or, ‘I heard something, I’m aware of something’ that didn’t mean anything to them at that moment, but maybe it does now.”

The KDPS Criminal Investigation Division can be reached at 269.337.8139 and Silent Observer at 269.343.2100.

He said some people at the apartment complex were uncooperative Tuesday night, but police “worked through that” and managed to get what they needed.

“We can’t tolerate this, we’re not going to tolerate this and we need to stop this. And one way to do this by holding the people who do these kinds of things accountable. And that means we need the community to support us,” Diaz said.

He said the death marks Kalamazoo’s fourth homicide of the year.

“This time last year, we had had one,” he said. “So unfortunately, we’re a little bit ahead of that.”

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