Then a phone call appeared to have set Dalton off.
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Domestic terrorism afflicted America yet again over the weekend, with the fatal shootings of six people near Kalamazoo in southwest MI.
Shooter Jason Dalton stopped into the gun shop in Plainwell, Mich., with a friend on Saturday. He was charged with murder on Monday.
Dalton’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 3.
Dalton remained quiet throughout his arraignment, carried out via a video connection from the jail where he’s being held without bond.
Investigators counted three crime scenes in Kalamazoo County: an apartment complex, a auto dealership and a Cracker Barrel parking lot. “We’ve lost six people, we have a 14-year-old girl clinging to life, we have another victim who is recovering, thankfully, … we have a high school that’s lost a classmate”.
When the judge asked him if he understood the charges, Dalton answered, “Yes, sir”.
The open murder charges allow prosecutors to decide later after additional investigation whether the charges should be first- or second-degree murder, manslaughter or a variety of those charges.
He was arrested early Sunday in Kalamazoo.
“Michigan State Police believe Dalton is the man who fired around 10 shots outside an apartment complex around 5:42 p.m. ET, wounding a woman who is now listed as being in serious condition”. Some four hours later, father and teenage son Rich and Tyler Smith were shot dead in the lot of a local Kia auto dealership.
Numerous handguns and long guns were seized from Dalton’s home.
Dalton was arraigned on Monday. Two people who survived are in the hospital.
Sullivan wouldn’t say whether Uber contacted Dalton Saturday night, referring questions about the timeline of events to law enforcement. The Associated Press could not confirm those accounts. They say they wouldn’t hire anyone if their background check showed anything like a gun offense or an assault or something of that sort. A neighbor told the New York Times that the suspect “periodically shot his gun out the back door” of the home where he lived with his wife and two children.
Jason Dalton waived his right against self-incrimination before making the statement to authorities, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said.
Dalton’s family, in an unsigned statement released through a Kalamazoo attorney’s office, expressed “shock and disbelief” at the shooting and said they were “devastated and saddened” for the victims.
“We were driving through medians, driving through the lawn, speeding along, and when we came to a stop, I jumped out of the vehicle and ran away”, Mellen said, adding that he had tried to warn the ride-sharing app that something was amiss with one of their drivers.
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“This is every community’s nightmare – when you have someone going around just randomly killing people, no rhyme, no reason”, Getting said.
