The Kalamazoo County prosecutor says Dalton picked up Uber passengers after the first shootings and probably after subsequent shootings.
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Dalton was formally charged with six counts of murder after he allegedly went on the weekend killing spree-possibly picking up passengers along the way.
Jason Dalton court arraignment: Motive theories emerge. And in India in November, an Uber driver was sentenced to life in prison for raping a passenger.
As families mourn the deaths of six people in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, one question looms above all else: Why?
Matt Mellen told WWMT TV that Mr Dalton had received a phone call before he began speeding, ignoring traffic lights and sideswiping vehicles along the way.
“I disagree with the assertion that fingerprints are better than the process we have in place”, said Sullivan.
Mellen said he also tried warning the ride-hailing service.
Dalton is accused of shooting people at random in three locations over several hours as he drove around Kalamazoo Saturday night.
After the hearing, Getting described the suspected shooter as cooperative and non-remorseful. The Associated Press could not confirm those accounts.
Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said Uber is cooperating with law enforcement officials, and he believes the company will “help us fill in some timeline gaps”.
In an emailed statement, Uber’s chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, said the company was in contact with police to help with the investigation.
Kalamazoo Police Chief Jeff Hadley told Reuters that investigators were still looking into reports of Dalton picking up Uber fares around the time of the shootings.
His next court appearance is set for March 3.
“When it comes to understanding what criminal record someone has, we think we do a pretty good job”, Sullivan said of Uber background checks, which involve going to courthouses and digging through files by hand if they are not available online.
Police have not provided a motive.
The only thing apparently connecting the victims?
Fifteen minutes after that, five people – including a 14-year-old girl – were gunned down in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant.
The four women killed at the Cracker Barrel parking lot were already in two vehicles when they were shot.
The Kalamazoo shootings come as Uber is facing a range of regulatory and safety issues.
Uber drivers overall appear to be split about what this incident means for them and the company, based on comments posted on SherpaShare, a site that has a community of 50,000 Uber and Lyft drivers and lets them chat over an app. Anyone found to be in violation of the policy may be prohibited from using or driving for the service. He indicated he understood the 16 charges – including six counts of murder, two of attempted murder and eight felony gun counts – against him.
More details are emerging about the night authorities say a MI man has admitted gunning down six randomly chosen victims in and around Kalamazoo.
“Our thoughts are with the Dalton family, who are also suffering at this time”, said Abigail’s father, Gene Kopf.
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Authorities say Kopf was in a auto outside a Kalamazoo-area restaurant when she was shot Saturday. An Uber spokesman confirmed that the suspect had passed the company’s employment check. 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.
