Mich. road incident unrelated to shootings

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BRIGHTON, Mich., Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Michigan State Police said a highway incident Monday appeared unrelated to two dozen sniper shootings on or near Interstate 96 near Detroit.

State police confirmed the Livingston County incident in which a female driver reported she thought her vehicle was shot at while southbound on Highway 23 about 9 a.m. actually involved a projectile, not a bullet, and was not believed to be connected to the series of 24 shootings, Hometownlife.com reported.

Meanwhile, Wixom police officials announced the reward being offered for information about the suspect in the shootings has grown from a total of $12,000 to $102,000, with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives each kicking in $50,000, Detroit's WDIV-TV reported.

Wixom Police Chief Clarence Goodlein said he's confident the person responsible for the snipe shootings will be caught, Hometownlife.com said.

State police said officers were "pulling over a number of vehicles" that fit a vehicle description linked to a possible suspect. Some drivers "may have been" placed in handcuffs and their vehicles searched, but no arrests had been made, police said.

A nearby school went into lockdown after the report of the Monday incident, Brighton Area Schools Superintendent Gregory Gray said.

Two vehicles were shot on the highway Saturday, leaving one person injured. Those incidents were the 23rd and 24th since the incidents began Oct. 16.

The shooting spree has been concentrated in Oakland, Livingston and Ingham counties near Detroit, on and near I-96.

There have been no fatalities and although police have a description of the alleged shooter's car, there had been no arrests, the Detroit Free Press reported.