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[h=4]Uber driver arraigned on 6 murder counts: What we know[/h]Jason Dalton, 45, is a married father of two.
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Jason Dalton is accused of killing six people and injuring two others in a random shooting spree across Kalamazoo, Michigan.
A memorial marks the second shooting scene where a father and son were killed in the parking lot outside of a Seelye Auto Group dealership in Kalamazoo, Mich.(Photo: Andraya Croft, The Detroit Free Press)
Jason Dalton, 45, was arraigned Monday on six counts of murder,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>two counts of assault with intent to commit murder and eight felony firearm<span style="color: Red;">*</span>counts in connection with a shooting spree<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that left six people dead Saturday night in and around Kalamazoo, Mich. Here is what we know.
Dalton, wearing glasses and an orange jump suit, made a video appearance<span style="color: Red;">*</span>from jail. He sat quietly while the charges were read, responding with brief answers to a judge's basic queries. Dalton, who was denied bail,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>could face life in prison without parole if convicted. Michigan does not have the death penalty.
The crimes
Police say Dalton, while moonlighting as an Uber driver, randomly shot victims at three locations in between fares. The attacks started at about 6 p.m. when police say Dalton shot a woman four times at an<span style="color: Red;">*</span>apartment complex parking lot. The victim was hospitalized in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>serious condition.
After four hours of quiet, the spree apparently turned deadly. Police say<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Dalton shot and killed a father and son sitting in their cars at a Kia car dealership at about 10 p.m.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>And 15 minutes later, police say<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he killed four people and critically wounded a 14-year-old girl in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a Cracker Barrel parking lot.
Dalton was arrested without incident at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>about 12:45 a.m. Sunday after a Kalamazoo County sheriff’s deputy spotted a car matching the description of Dalton's vehicle leaving a bar parking lot. A semiautomatic handgun was found in the car, police said.
The suspect
Kalamazoo Prosecutor Jeff Getting said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Dalton has no prior criminal record, and Uber said he passed a background check. Dalton lives in a small ranch home in Kalamazoo County with his wife, Carole,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and two<span style="color: Red;">*</span>children.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>His daytime job was insurance adjuster, and neighbors say he enjoyed tinkering with cars and owned a few of them.
USA TODAY
Police: 6 dead in 'random' Michigan shootings; suspect held
USA TODAY
Kalamazoo mourns shooting victims at vigil
Carole Dalton works for the investment firm Raymond James and earned an administrative assistant certificate from<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
"He was a nice guy," neighbor Sally Pardo, 70, told the Detroit Free Press. "He had<span style="color: Red;">*</span>two kids, a wife. That’s what's really sad.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Those kids have to live with this for the rest of their lives.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>What's even sadder is the victims and their families.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>... It just breaks my heart."
Getting said Dalton appeared even-tempered during his arrest and subsequent questioning.
“He did not present in a combative way or an emotional way at all," Getting said.
The victims
The fatalities at the car dealership were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>high school senior Tyler Smith, 17, and his father, Richard,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>53, Mattawan Consolidated Schools superintendent Robin Buckler confirmed.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Tyler and his family, friends and the community," Buchler said in a statement.
The Cracker Barrel fatalities<span style="color: Red;">*</span>were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mary Lou<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Nye, 62, of Baroda, Mich., and Battle Creek residents<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mary Jo Nye, 60, Dorothy Brown, 74, and Barbara<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Hawthorne, 68.
Mary Lou Nye<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was the driver of an Oldsmobile<span style="color: Red;">*</span>minivan targeted in the restaurant's lot.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Neighbor Carol Dinges said Nye was a retired office manager who<span style="color: Red;">*</span>stayed positive even while<span style="color: Red;">*</span>rebuilding a house heavily damaged by a tornado.
Mary Jo Nye<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was the driver of a Chevrolet Cruze.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Nye was a retired teacher who played a role in the founding of an<span style="color: Red;">*</span>alternative high school in Battle Creek<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and taught English there before retiring four years ago.<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>Tara Egnatuk, an assistant director at the school, told the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Battle Creek Enquirer<span style="color: Red;">*</span>she believed Mary Lou and Mary Jo Nye were sisters-in-law.
Brown, the mother of two grown sons, was a passenger in the Chevolet Cruze.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"A sweet, sweet old lady," Daniel Arnold, Brown's next-door neighbor for the last three years, told mlive.com. "You couldn't ask for a better neighbor."
Hawthorne, also in the Cruze, worked at Kellogg Co. for 22 years before retiring in 2008,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Kellogg CEO John Bryant said.
“We are deeply saddened by these tragic events and brokenhearted to learn that one of the victims, Barbara Hawthorne, belonged to our Kellogg family," Bryant said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Barbara’s family and friends, as well as all of the victims of this crime and their families."
Uber
Uber customer Matt Mellen told WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo that he got a ride from Dalton less than two hours before the shooting spree began. He said Dalton showed up in a Chevy Equinox with his dog in the back at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Mellen told the station Dalton began driving erratically after receiving a phone call.
"We were driving through medians, driving through the lawn, speeding along and when we came to a stop, I jumped out of the car and ran away," Mellen told the station. He said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he called police and Uber.
Uber issued a statement saying the company was cooperating with police.
"“We are horrified and heartbroken at the senseless violence in Kalamazoo, Michigan," Joe Sullivan, chief security officer at Uber, said in the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>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.”
President Obama weighs in
President Obama, speaking at a meeting of U.S. governors in Washington, said he had called the mayor and police chief in Kalamazoo and pledged federal support. He said first responders had done an "outstanding job."
Still, he added, "We have got families that are shattered today."
Contributing: Jennifer Bowman, Battle Creek Enquirer
A vehicle driven by a suspect in multiple shootings sits at Ransom and Porter streets in downtown Kalamazoo, Mich., after the driver was arrested early Feb. 21, 2016, in Kalamazoo. A man drove around Kalamazoo shooting people at three locations Saturday, including a Cracker Barrel restaurant and a Ford dealership, leaving six dead and three injured, two of them critically, police said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> Ed Finnerty, Kalamazoo Gazette, via AP
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