Katrease Stafford

Detroit Free Press

KALAMAZOO — A married, father of two who moonlighted as an Uber driver is being blamed for a shooting rampage Saturday night that left six people dead and two others wounded. The big question remains, what set off the deadly spree?

Police say 45-year-old Jason Dalton, described by his neighbors as a good family man, apparently randomly picked his victims, who were killed or wounded over a four-hour period at three separate locations in Kalamazoo and the surrounding area The victims ranged in age from 14 to 74.

Dalton continued to pick up riders, according to reports by WOOD-TV, and drop them off in between the shootings, which started about 6 p.m. That seemed to be confirmed by a Kalamazoo man, using the Twitter handle @IamKeithBlack, who tweeted that he got a ride from Dalton at 8 p.m.

“Lucky to be alive,” he said in a later tweet.

On Sunday night, mourners gathered at Kalamazoo's Centerpoint Church to remember the shooting victims Saturday and pray for the survivors.

Lt. Governor Brian Calley called the shooting a “horrific tragedy” and offered a prayer, saying, "Help us to show your light when the world is so dark."

Neighbors say Kalamazoo shooting suspect 'liked guns'

Dalton, who is expected to be arraigned Monday on multiple charges of murder and attempted murder, was arrested about 12:45 a.m. Sunday when a Kalamazoo County sheriff’s deputy spotted a car matching the description of the shooter’s vehicle exiting a parking lot at a downtown Kalamazoo bar. The deputy stopped the car and the man was arrested peacefully. A semi-automatic handgun was found in the car.

It’s unclear what precipitated the rampage, although Dalton was acting irrationally and driving erratically prior to the first shooting, according to a Facebook post from a woman who said her fiancé had gotten a ride from Dalton late Saturday afternoon.

The woman posted at 5:33 p.m. that her boyfriend was picked up by an Uber driver named Jason who blew through a stop sign and sideswiped another car. She posted an Uber-supplied photo of the man, who matched the police mug shot of Dalton, and said he was driving a Chevrolet Equinox SUV. Kalamazoo Gazette photos later show police searching an Equinox.

The woman, who has since deleted the post, said 911 was called "but surprisingly they didn't seem all that concerned.”

"Hoping this man will be arrested or hospitalized soon if he has a medical condition causing his behavior," she said. The Facebook post has since been deleted but the Free Press obtained a copy of it.

Kalamazoo rampage the worst known Uber incident

Police believe Dalton began the attacks at a Richland Township apartment complex, shooting a woman four times in the parking lot. The woman is in serious condition, police said.

Dalton next allegedly shot and killed a father and son who were sitting in their cars at a Kia car dealership in Kalamazoo about 10 p.m.. About 15 minutes later he killed four people and critically wounded a 14-year-old girl at a Cracker Barrel parking lot in Texas Township, police said.

Police originally reported that the 14-year-old girl was killed, putting the death toll at seven. On Sunday morning, Kalamazoo Prosecutor Jeff Getting said the girl was "severely, gravely" injured, but still alive.

“At this point the connection between these three incidents, between these three cases, is the defendant, is Mr. Dalton,” Getting said at a press conference. “There is no connection that we’re aware of between the three sets of victims to each other or any of the victims to Mr. Dalton. They appear to have been chosen at random, because they were available.”

“He seemed pretty even-tempered,” Getting said of Dalton’s demeanor at the time of his arrest and in questioning. “He did not present in a combative way or an emotional way at all.”

Dalton has no criminal record, Getting said. He said authorities were still working to establish a motive in the shootings.

“We are very confident we have the right person in custody,” Getting said. “There is signficant evidence to tie him to these activities.”

Uber released a statement late Sunday morning confirming that Dalton was an Uber driver and said he had passed a background check.

“We are horrified and heartbroken at the senseless violence in Kalamazoo, Michigan," Joe Sullivan, chief security officer at Uber, said in the statement. "Our hearts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this devastating crime and those recovering from injuries. We have reached out to the police to help with their investigation in any way that we can.”

Victims of Kalamazoo shootings remembered

Michigan State Police identified four of the victims Sunday morning:

Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda

Mary Jo Nye, 60, of Battle Creek

Dorothy Brown, 74, of Battle Creek

Barbara Hawthorne, 68, of Battle Creek

Tyler Smith, 17, and his father, Richard Smith, both of Kalamazoo, were identified in a separate news release by Mattawan Consolidated Schools Superintendent Robin Buchler.

Neighbors described Dalton as a good family man who "loved guns." They said he worked as insurance salesman by day and a hobby mechanic on the side.

Getting assured the community that there was no continuing threat. He said authorities have every reason to believe that Dalton acted alone.

Kalamazoo mourns shooting victims at Sunday night vigil

Getting said police had checked along the route between the auto dealership and the Cracker Barrel, searching for other victims, but found none. Authorities were continuing to piece together the movements of the shooter in the four hours between the first and second shootings and the more than two hours after the third attack.

The police chief of Battle Creek, where at least three of the victims lived, on Sunday called the shootings “an absolute tragedy” for the community and a very difficult case for law enforcement.

“It was random and not ongoing or even continuous,” Chief Jim Blocker said. “You could not tell how they were tied together until they obtained some piece of information. It was random shootings in different jurisdictions with no common denominator.”

Blocker said that the spree was unusual in that most mass shootings are at one time and one place.

“We surge to stop the threat,” Blocker said. “This was more challenging.”

Two groups pushing for stronger gun laws issued statements today following the mass shooting, on Sunday released a statement

“Once again, another community has been shattered by gun violence. This is what the new normal looks like," former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Capt. Mark Kelly, said in a statement from their group, Americans for Responsible Solutions.

Giffords survived a 2011 assassination attempt that killed six people, including a 13-year-old girl who had shown up with her father to meet the congresswoman during an appearance at a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz. At least 12 other people were wounded in the shooting.

The Michigan chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, in a statement said Saturday's incident is one of at least 143 mass shootings that have occurred in America since 2009, and the second mass shooting in 2016.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families affected by the mass shooting last night that killed six and injured two," the group said. "We don’t expect this type of violence to happen here in Kalamazoo, but the truth is that gun violence is affecting communities across the country every day."

On social media, officials mourn Kalamazoo shootings

Contributing to this report Detroit Free Press reporter Daniel Bethencourt ,

Robert Warner and Trace Christenson of the Battle Creek Enquirer, Andrew Krietz ofWZZM-TV, Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, and The Associated Press