Police have arrested a suspect for a six-hour shooting spree that started in an apartment complex parking lot and ended in a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Jason Brian Dalton, a 45-year-old Uber driver, is suspected of killing six people and injuring two at random with a semiautomatic handgun during multiple shootings Saturday night. The shootings started around 6 p.m. when a woman was shot four times while with her three children. CNN reported the woman is in serious condition but is expected to survive the attack.
This image provided by the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office shows Jason Dalton of Kalamazoo County. Dalton was arrested early Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016 in downtown Kalamazoo following a massive manhunt after several victims were shot at random.
Four hours later, an 18-year old male and an older man were fatally shot while browsing cars at a Kia dealership. The next shooting occurred 10 minutes later at a nearby Cracker Barrel where Dalton allegedly shot into two vehicles in the restaurant’s parking lot. Four women in the vehicles were killed and a 14-year-old girl is reportedly alive but is in very serious condition. The women and the teenage girl were in the same party, according to CNN.
Kalamazoo police arrested Dalton, who was described as “even tempered” by Kalamazoo County prosecutor Jeff Getting, around 12:30 a.m. Dalton is married with two children, and known to “like guns,” CNN reported neighbor Gary Pardo saying.
Dalton is an Uber driver and reportedly picked up fares in between the shootings, WOODTV reported. Passengers who had him as a driver during the time of the shootings recalled Dalton driving erratically, sideswiping a car and blowing through stop signs.
Uber, which has been criticized for hiring drivers prone to violence, issued a statement saying, “We are horrified and heartbroken at the senseless violence in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Our hearts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this devastating crime and those recovering from injuries. We are reaching out to the police to help with their investigation in any way that we can.”
Police have not uncovered a motive for the shootings, which appear to be random. This is the third reported firearm-related homicide in Kalamazoo this year, according to the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety’s crime map.
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