A man has been arrested and accused of being involved dozens of shootings along the I-96 corridor last month. Raulie Wayne Casteel, 43, was charged Friday with 60 counts — including attempted murder — in the shooting spree that had drivers in the state on edge for weeks.
Casteel faces 60 charges in Oakland County, where many of the 24 shootings occurred in October, and could be sentenced to up to life in prison if convicted of any of the eight attempted murder counts.
A task force was able to zero in on the suspect after a woman reported a road rage incident last month. She remembered a partial license plate number and it matched one tied to a vehicle owned by the suspect, investigators said.
Casteel owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu that matches a description provided by one of the victims, and police told the Detroit News the vehicle was an important piece of the investigation.
“We believe this person is responsible for the shootings, and it’s only a matter of determining what charges, either state or federal,” said Wixom Police Chief Clarence Goodlein.
“The task force is still in operation and will be pursuing leads that may connect to him, and that doesn't preclude that there may be other people involved,” Goodlein said. “We still want people to be vigilant.”
Casteel was arraigned on one charge each of assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent and intentionally firing a firearm from a vehicle and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felon. Casteel could be charged in other counties and federally, officials said.
Casteel was previously arraigned in Howell Township in another shooting and is being held on a $2 million bond in that case.
Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Kenneth Frazee said a high bond or no bond was appropriate since these charges only represent a portion of the victims of “these acts of terror.”
One of Casteel’s attorneys, Charles Groh, said the suspect is a college graduate who lived in Wixom, MI, at his in-laws’ house with his wife and 2-year-old daughter. Casteel has been unemployed for the past two years, was financially supported by his wife, has never been convicted of a crime and is a stay-at-home dad, the attorney said.
Casteel’s aunt said he has suffered from a mental illness “for a while” but refused family entreaties to get help.
