Six are dead and more than two are critically injured after an Uber driver allegedly went on a shooting rampage in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Jason Brian Dalton is believed to have been the Uber driver who went on the killing rampage. During the several hours, he still proceeded to take payment for driving people around.
He allegedly started his rampage at 5:42 p.m. The first victim was a woman who was shot multipke times in an apartment complex parking lot. She is currently in serious condition. She was with her children prior to the shooting, however the children weren’t harmed.
Four hours later, two were shot and killed at a car dealership. The father and son, who have been identified as Tyler and Richard Smith, were looking at a vehicle at the time of the shooting. Tyler Smith was 17 and Richard Smith was 53.
Soon after, he pulled into a Cracker Barrel parking lot and shot at a passing Chevrolet Cruze and an Oldmobile minivan. Mary Lou Nye, 62; Mary Jo Nye, 60; Dorothy Brown, 74; and Barbara Hawthorne, 68; were killed in the process. A 14-year-old girl was in the Chevrolet as well, but she has been listed in critical condition. She was initially thought dead.
Police took Dalton into custody at approximately 12:40 a.m. Police describe his demeanor as “even-tempered.” They confiscated his semimautomatic handgun at the time of his arrest. A witness stated his experience with the Uber driver, who he had been riding with prior to the shootings.
“He got a telephone call. After that call, he started driving erratically, running stop signs, driving through medians, driving through the lawn speeding along and then finally, once he came to a stop, I jumped out of the car and ran away.”
His attitude prior to the shootings was described as “surprisingly calm.”
It is unclear what Dalton’s motives could have been, but police say he didn’t have any direct connection to any of the victims. Police say he didn’t have a record and wasn’t on their radar for this sort of act of violence.
Dalton is expected to be charged with six counts of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, six counts of felony firearm, and possibly more.