Beaverton Shooter kills homeowner,search closes school

By Pat Maurer
Correspondent

An armed suspect in the area closed down Beaverton Schools Tuesday, June 6th while police searched for the person.
According to a June 8 post by MLive, At about 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 6, a man was shot and killed at a residence at 385 W. Brown, Lot 50, within the Lakefront Estates mobile home park in Beaverton, according to Gladwin County Sheriff Michael Shea. He said A woman was also assaulted during the incident but survived.
The man who was killed was identified as Scott Eckert, 56. The incident was reported as a “home invasion.”
The Gladwin County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police from Mt. Pleasant were assisting in the search for the “armed” suspect in the shooting.
ABC News (WJRT) reported June 7th, “The suspect left the area before police arrived, leading to manhunt across the northern part of Mid-Michigan.
A post at 8:44 am on the Beaverton Schools Facebook page on June 6th said, “We have learned of a tragic incident this morning that has impacted our community. It is an ongoing investigation that has now been resolved at this time. We are advising folks to stay clear of the school campus area until we have clearance from local law enforcement.”
Gladwin Schools reported at 9:48 am, “Early this morning, there was a shooting in the city of Beaverton. While we have no reason to believe our students are in any danger, we are operating our buildings in a secure mode. This is not a lockdown situation, but rather a heightening of our security protocols.”
With an all-clear from officers, Beaverton reopened school on Wednesday, the last day of school for the year.
Shea said investigators interviewed a person who was arrested outside of the county, but it is unclear if that is related to the home invasion. The sheriff said investigators will follow up with more interviews, search warrants, and other measures.
ABC News 12 (WJRT) reported on June 7th: “Police say they arrested a man for stealing a pickup truck in Isabella County about five hours after the home invasion and murder took place. Investigators believe he was involved with the Beaverton murder.”
The ABC post said “Authorities have not identified the person in custody or provided any information about a possible motive for the incident. It was not clear whether the man has been arraigned on any charges.”