Jason Dalton, Uber driver who killed six people in Michigan, says smartphone app takes over ‘your whole body’ and is undergoing psychiatric evaluation

An Uber driver charged with fatally shooting six people in western Michigan told police that the ride-sharing company’s app takes over “your whole body” and forced him to go on a killing spree that also left two wounded.

In a series of reports released on Monday, Jason Dalton, 45, admitted his involvement in three shootings that took place over several hours on 20 February in the Kalamazoo area, but said Uber’s smartphone app was to blame.



Dalton told police that when he opened the ride-sharing app, he “recognized the Uber symbol as being that of the Eastern Star” and that a “devil head” would pop up on his screen. He said that was “when all the problems started”.

After the first shooting at an apartment complex, Dalton stopped at his parents’ house to switch vehicles with his wife, after getting into an accident with his Chevy Equinox, the report stated. Dalton explained that he was “nearly run off the road” by an “angry taxi driver upset” that he was driving for Uber.

Kalamazoo shooting spree puts Uber in spotlight over safety concerns Read more

Dalton’s wife “did not really believe Jason’s story about the crash because he would not look her in the eye, even when she purposely stepped directly in front of him”.

In an interview with the Kalamazoo department of public safety, Dalton said “he is not a killer” but “knows that he has killed”.

“Dalton said that the iPhone can take you over,” a report stated, adding: “Dalton said he wishes he would never have spoken what that symbol was when he saw it on his phone. Dalton described the devil figure as a horned cow head … and then it would give you an assignment and it would literally take over your whole body.”

Initially, he opted to plead the fifth amendment, but relented when police disclosed that he fatally shot a 17-year-old boy. Asked if he had a comment for the child’s parents, Dalton replied: “I’m sorry.”

He was charged last month with six counts of murder and two counts of assault with intent to murder in connection with the shootings at an apartment complex, car lot and Cracker Barrel restaurant. A judge earlier this month ordered a psychological examination at the request of Dalton’s court-appointed attorney, and the evaluation is expected to take upward of 60 days.

The report stated that Dalton was apprehensive about discussing the Uber app, saying he didn’t “want to come across as being a crazy person”, and that was “why he was pleading the fifth earlier”.

Dalton also told police that he did not drink or smoke, and was not on “psychotic or psychosis drugs”, adding that that he was not in bad financial straits and did not consider himself a “anti-government or militia-type person”.

When police arrested him during a traffic stop, Dalton was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a loaded 9mm handgun.

Dalton said that he could not recall the shootings, but that he remembered the “pop, pop, pop of the gun”.



A detective noted, “I asked Dalton if he remembered pulling the trigger and Dalton said that he did not … and he just remembers feeling the percussion of the gunshots.”

“Dalton said that … the really weird thing is that he never even aimed,” the report stated. “Dalton then extended his right arm straight out and moved it from side to side and said that he remembered that it just sort of had him, and it was directing him as he was shooting.”

Asked later if he was targeting specific individuals, Dalton said the shooting spree was “just a random thing”.



In an interview with the Kalamazoo county sheriff’s office, a former colleague of Dalton’s said he was “quirky” but added “there seemed to be a ‘side’ to Jason that many people may not have seen unless they worked with him”.



The pair worked for an insurance company and, on one occasion witnessed “Jason yell at a customer over the phone, eventually slamming the phone down, hanging up on the customer.”

“Jason was very upset and stood up and paced around his desk after the conversation,” the report stated. “[The former colleague] said that Jason had been counseled about his professionalism with customers prior to this.”

At one point, a detective asked Dalton why he never uninstalled the app, but Dalton said it “sort of had you at a certain point”.

“Dalton said that if he would’ve never ever mentioned the Uber symbol resembling the Eastern Star,” the report said, “he never would’ve had any problems.”

