Stranger Shoots Hitchhiker Writing Kindness of America

It's so ironic that it almost seems made up: A West Virginia man hitchhiking across America while penning a memoir—working title The Kindness of America—was apparently shot for no apparent reason by a total stranger in Montana on Saturday night. The Billings Gazette reports that Raymond Dolin, 39, was trying to catch a ride along Highway 2 when police say a maroon pickup pulled up. The driver then allegedly shot Dolin and took off.

Proving there is a smidgen of kindness out there, a passerby stopped and assisted Dolin. Charles Lloyd Danielson, 52, was arrested later that night; police apparently tracked him down in part because he asked an (also kind?) man for directions. Police haven't uncovered any connection between the two men. "It’s totally random," said a local sheriff. "These two gentlemen did not know each other. They'd never seen each other and we don't know of a motive. We don’t know why this happened." (More strange stuff stories.)