Teen shooting victim responds to doctor with thumbs-up

A 14-year-old girl wounded in a deadly shooting spree in MI this weekend was initially pronounced brain dead at the hospital before she squeezed her mother’s hand and was rushed to surgery, her family told authorities.

For now, Abigail remains on a ventilator and is critically ill, Lane-Davies said.

The 14-year-old girl is the lone survivor of those who were killed while sitting in a vehicle at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Texas Township.

“…the mother then asked her daughter to squeeze her hand again if she could hear her, and she did”.

The four women were killed and were identified as 60-year-old Mary Jo Nye of Battle Creek, her 62-year-old sister-in-law Mary Lou Nye of Baroda, 68-year-old Barbara Hawthorne of Battle Creek and 74-year-old Dorothy Brown of Battle Creek.

“We were home the night that this happened”, said Dan Holroyd, who lives near the shooting scene.

Vicki Kopf became emotional as she emphasized, “My daughter is not dead”. Hawthorne, a lover of music who “believed to march to your own drummer”, as her family said in a statement, shared a love of music and theater with the young woman.

City, county and state police agencies investigating three shootings that left six dead in the Kalamazoo area on Saturday say they still don’t know what possessed the gunman to open fire. “Barb was a special part of our lives our thoughts go out to her family”.

Abigail still “has a long road ahead”, said her father, Gene Kopf, but is “strong-willed and fighting”.

Kopf’s parents, Vicki and Gene Kopf, held an emotional press conference Monday night along with the medical director of Bronson Children’s Hospital where Abigail has been undergoing treatment since Saturday.

She also said the others did not deserve to be attacked, describing Hawthorne as “a handsome woman with an infectious laugh” who gave lovely hugs.

“You don’t expect it and suddenly it was there”, she said. “We want his family to know we don’t hold anythign against the family members”.

Jason Brian Dalton, 45, was arraigned on murder charges Monday afternoon and was denied bail.

Rich Smith and his 17-year-old son, Tyler were shot and killed at a Kalamazoo vehicle dealership about 15 minutes before the Cracker Barrel shooting.