Mellen told Kalamazoo television station WWMT-TV that he hailed a ride Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016, and that driver Jason Dalton introduced himself as “Me-Me” and had a dog in the backseat.
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He tells The Associated Press that 45-year-old Jason Dalton of Kalamazoo Township purchased long guns form the store, but he does not know if he ever sold him a handgun.
Dalton appeared briefly in court by video link Monday and was charged with six counts of murder.
Several people have come forward since Dalton’s arrest to say they Dalton picked them up for Uber in the hours after the first attack and before his arrest. Police were at Dalton’s home early Sunday morning and carried out multiple boxes, said James Block, who lives next door.
Police say the rampage began about 6 p.m. Saturday outside an apartment complex, where a woman was seriously wounded.
Dalton then allegedly approached two cars in a Cracker Barrel Restaurant parking lot and shot five people, state police said. Four women were killed Saturday night, and a 14-year-old who was with them is in critical condition.
On the day of the shootings, Dalton spoke to the owner during his visit to Southwick’s.
Gettings confirmed that Dalton took fares as a Uber driver after the first shootings and probably more after later shootings.
“We were driving through medians, driving through the lawn, speeding along and when we came to a stop, I jumped out the vehicle and ran away”, said Mellen. A spokesman in Detroit, Donald Dawkins, says there’s no indication that Jason Dalton was prohibited from possessing guns. He was arraigned Monday and is being held without bond.
Uber says Dalton cleared a background check and was approved as a driver on January 25th and he’s given over 100 rides. She is expected to survive.
In any case, both sides agree that Dalton wouldn’t have raised red flags, since he had no prior criminal record.
It was a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun.
“I was in absolute disbelief”, Jamieson said of the shootings, describing Dalton as the “one person I didn’t think would be it”.
“He could make conversation with just about anyone, but he was also non-confrontational”, Jamieson said.
David Fowler, a 68-year-old Vietnam War veteran, lives kitty-corner to Dalton and said he would regularly hear him “cut loose” and shoot repeatedly for hours. However, the police have released the identity of some of the victims including Richard Smith, (53), and his son Tyler, (17), who was the father and son at the auto dealership.
“This type of violence has no place in our society, and we express our love and support for everyone involved”, the Dalton family said in a statement.
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Here’s the latest on what we know about the rampage that left six people dead and two injured. “We have reached out to the police to help with their investigation in any way that we can”.
