Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said investigators were still checking whether Dalton legally owned the handgun officials say he used in the shootings, the newspaper reported.
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Dalton was arraigned via video to hear the charges against him on Monday.
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday he has spoken to the mayor and top law enforcement in Kalamazoo about the shootings and pledge whatever federal support they need. He is being held without bail.
Michigan State Police said the shooting began at about 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) with the report of a woman wounded outside an apartment building. Fifteen minutes after that, five people were shot in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Fuller said Carruthers sensed trouble when Dalton pulled up outside her apartment and put herself between his vehicle and several children for whom she was caring, telling them to run to their nearby home.
Uber declined to go on the record about the chronology of events on Saturday night, but did acknowledge that several passengers had complained about Dalton’s driving, including the passenger who called 911 to report him. James Block, who has lived next door to Dalton for 17 years, says his niece saw Dalton pull out of his driveway, rapidly back up toward his garage, then drive off.
Name checks can miss court records if a person uses an alias or their name is even slightly different from the records, Daus said.
Uber did not comment on the timeline of Dalton and the company’s actions on Saturday, citing the ongoing law enforcement investigation. He told his fiancee what had happened and she posted Dalton’s picture on Facebook as a warning to others.
But critics, including taxi companies that compete with Uber, say the auto service could do more to protect passengers. “I’m upset because I tried contacting Uber after I had talked to the police saying that we needed to get this guy off the road”.
“I don’t think there is a why”, said Lt. Dale Hinz to Wood TV, when asked about a potential motive.
Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller III said he has cautioned residents not to focus too much of the motive. He expects some answers to emerge in court, but he doubts they will be satisfying.
Dalton cleared a background check to become an Uber driver on January 25, and was at the wheel for slightly more than 100 trips by users of the smartphone-based ride-sharing service during the following weeks, according to Uber.
Dalton allegedly drove other customers that night after the shootings, including a couple who wished to remain anonymous. “I kind of jokingly said to the driver, ‘You’re not the shooter, are you?'” I said, ‘Are you sure?’ And he said, ‘No, I’m not, I’m just exhausted…
“The reason we do that, just to be clear, is because with something like bad driving, we’re not going to take away someone’s ability to earn a living without talking to them first”, the spokesperson said.
He says Dalton was a good football player who wrestled and was on the track team, and “never got into trouble”.
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Earlier this year, Mr. Obama announced modest gun restrictions in an emotional public speech, and on Monday he said these steps would “make it harder for unsafe individuals” to get guns.
