Julie Norwood,
July 15, 2022Updated: July 15, 2022 3:40 pm
Charles Gillard, suspect in the shooting deaths of four family members, has been taken into custody after spending a month in the hospital for a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Courtesy photo/Getty Images
MECOSTA COUNTY — The suspect in a quadruple homicide has been taken in to custody after spending a month in the hospital for a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
According to a news release issued Thursday, July 14, from the Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office, deputies formerly took Charles Robert Gillard Sr., 51, of Stanwood, into custody June 28. Gillard faces multiple felony charges in the shooting deaths of his wife, Dawn Gillard, 40, and their three children Katelynn Gillard, 6, Ronald Gillard, 4, and Joshua Gillard, 3.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred Friday, May 27. About 2:30 pm, police responded to a residence north of Stanwood in Austin Township, and found three children under the age of 10 years old and an adult female dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
Police also found a 51-year-old male, later identified as Charles Gillard, with a gunshot wound to the head. He was transported to Spectrum Health Big Rapids Hospital, later transferred to Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, before being transferred to University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, in critical condition for his injuries.
On June 16, while Gillard was still in the hospital, the Mecosta County Chief Prosecutor Amy Clapp announced that the attorney’s office would be issuing multiple charges, including four counts of homicide, open murder; three counts of child abuse, first degree; two counts of child abuse, first degree, committed in the presence of another child; and five counts of felony firearm.
According to the July 14 news release, Gillard has been arrested in the 77th District Court and is being held without bound in the Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office Jail.
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