Raulie Casteel ID'd as Mich. roadway shooting suspect, charged with gun crimes

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Raulie Wayne Casteel

/ AP Photo/Livingston County Sheriff

(CBS/AP) HOWELL, Mich. - A man suspected in two dozen seemingly random shootings along a 100-mile stretch of roadway in southeastern Michigan has been identified as Raulie Casteel, a 43-year-old self-described geologist, who's now charged with several gun crimes, with more charges likely to follow.

Casteel is accused of last month's shootings that mostly targeted moving vehicles on or near Interstate 96. One person was injured in the attacks.

Casteel was ordered held on a $2 million bail after being charged Wednesday with assault with a dangerous weapon and other gun crimes. The charges stem from the shooting Oct. 18 in Livingston County's Howell Township, about 45 miles northwest of Detroit.

The driver of the targeted car was able to describe the gunman, his vehicle and a partial license plate number from a Michigan State University vanity plate.

Casteel was arrested Monday at his home in Wixom, about 20 miles away from the Oct. 18 incident.

He appeared in court via video from jail on Wednesday. Judge Carol Sue Reader set the high bail, saying there was a "high probability" that Casteel was a threat to the public. The county prosecutor's office said mental illness may have been a factor.

The shootings occurred in four counties - Ingham, Oakland, Livingston and Shiawassee - between Oct. 16 and Oct. 27. The one person hit was a man shot in the buttocks.

On professional websites, Casteel described himself as a geologist and soil scientist with experience in environmental cleanup. He's a Michigan native who lived in Taylorsville, Ky., before recently returning to his home state.

Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said Casteel's case in Livingston County gives his department and other police agencies time to build their own cases. He predicted more charges soon.

Complete coverage of the Michigan Roadway shootings on Crimesider

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by Dawgzilla November 8, 2012 2:54 PM EST: Wow, this idiot is seriously giving TRUE geologists a bad name, yet not really sure what his occupation, or lack of, has to do with his horrendous crime in the first place.; Reply to this comment


by neutronJK November 8, 2012 2:27 PM EST: Not to be critical, but what exactly is a "self-described geologist". Is he a geologist or isn't he? Is he unemployed?; Reply to this comment