The suspect in a series of deadly shootings in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Saturday evening, a man named Jason Brian Dalton, is apparently an Uber driver who may have been firing at people randomly as he picked up fares, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN.
With no prior criminal convictions, the 45-year-old Dalton is described by his neighbors as a good family man. His alleged rampage has killed six and injured two more over a five-hour period at three separate locations in Kalamazoo and the surrounding area. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 74.
A Facebook post by a Kalamazoo resident named Mackenzie Waite on Saturday, screenshotted by CNN affiliate WoodTV, says that her fiancé's Uber driver, who may have been Dalton, was driving very erratically; sideswiping other cars, speeding, swerving in and out of oncoming traffic, and refusing to pull over.
Part of Waite's post, which now appears to be removed or set to private, reads: "ATTENTION kzoo peeps!!!! This uber driver named JASON drives a silver Chevy Equinox is NOT a safe ride! A little bit ago my fiancé got a ride with him and he was driving VERY erratically... He was acting completely normal throughout all of this erratic driving!! Please share if you are in the kzoo area. Stay safe! 911 was called but surprisingly they didn't seem all that concerned I'm thankful that no one was hurt yet."
The post was reportedly published around 6:00 p.m., approximately the same time that the shooter opened fire at people in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel.
Uber is a popular mobile ride-hailing service headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company is currently assisting police with the investigation and has confirmed to Business Insider that Dalton was indeed an Uber driver who had passed their mandatory background check. This check go back seven years and involves running a potential driver's name and address in several national, state, and local databases, including the National Criminal Search and the National Sex Offender Registry.
The suspect is expected to be charged on Monday on multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. He was arrested at around 12:45 a.m. Sunday when a Kalamazoo County sheriff's deputy recognized a car matching the description of the shooter's vehicle leaving a parking lot at a downtown Kalamazoo bar. The officer stopped the car and the man was reportedly arrested in a peaceful manner. A semi-automatic handgun was found in said vehicle.
A motive for the crime has yet to be determined. "We just can't figure out the motive. There's nothing that gives us any indication as to why he would do this or what would have triggered this. The victims did not know him; he did not know the victims," Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley mentioned.
Joe Sullivan, chief security officer at Uber, released a statement to a local NBC affiliate in Los Angeles on Sunday morning. "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 have reached out to the police to help with their investigation in any way that we can," Sullivan said.
