On the night of February 20, 2016, a series of seemingly random shootings occurred in an apartment complex, a car dealer, and outside a restaurant in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Six people were killed and two others wounded.
Police arrested a 45-year-old Uber driver, Jason Brian Dalton, as a "strong suspect" in the shootings. He was later charged with murder, assault, and criminal weapons using two days after the shooting. After he is found competent to be tried, Dalton's lawyers plan a defense of legal insanity for their clients.
Video 2016 Kalamazoo shootings
Events
Before the shooting
A few hours before the shooting, Jason Brian Dalton went to three different gun shops with a friend. In one of them, he bought a black jacket with a pouch designed to hide the gun. Although the store owner said Dalton was in "good spirits" during the visit, a friend who accompanied Dalton said that he was "a bit quieter than usual" during the trip. Dalton is an occasional customer in the same store, but never bought a gun there.
Shortly after 4:00 pm on February 20, 2016, Matt Mellen requested a Uber pickup to take him to a friend's house. He was picked up at 4:21 pm by Dalton, who drove the silver Chevrolet Equinox. During the trip, Dalton receives a call, and after it is over, he is allegedly "started driving crazy". At one point, he entered the traffic lane, drove through the center line, ignored the stop sign, and hit Ford Taurus, ignoring Mellen's plea to stop. When Dalton stops at another stop sign, Mellen jumps out and calls 9-1-1. He informed the officer about Dalton's Equinox, including his license plate number, and the dispatcher issued a "beware" notice on the vehicle.
At 4:34 pm, Dalton returns home and then calls his wife 41 minutes later, asking him to enter their Hummer H3 key. They agreed to meet at the residence of their parents, which is located about 10 miles (16 km) away. However, on the way, Dalton received another pickup request at 5:15 pm, from a woman who wanted him to pick up his girlfriend in the Richland Township apartment complex.
Richland Township photo shoot
The shooting began around 5:42 AM EST when a woman was shot repeatedly in the same apartment complex parking lot. He survived his wounds. According to the woman, she was confronted by a man in a vehicle with a German Shepherd dog sitting in the back. The driver asked him if he was someone else with a different name. When he answers that he does not, the man spins his car and shoots repeatedly towards him, and he survives by playing dead. About fifteen bullets were fired. Ten bullet casings were found on the set of the first shoot. Five children, including the daughter, were present at the scene of the shooting, but they escaped unharmed through their efforts.
Researchers believe that Dalton's demand for Uber rides in apartment complexes has failed. The applicant sends a message to Dalton sometime after the initial request with an address correction, which will take him to another location in the same area. He then tries calling her to follow up with him on address correction, but he does not respond. A witness later reported seeing Equinox driving "so aggressively" towards the apartment, at one point cutting it on the southern curve and at risk of a direct collision; he then recognized Dalton on the news as an Equinox driver. At 6:05, about twenty minutes after the first shootings, Dalton summoned the applicant, saying that he did not respond to his texts and that he could not travel because "something had appeared".
Between first and second firing
One minute after the shooting, Dalton's Equinox was seen driving through a red light at a junction about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the scene. It hit another vehicle and escaped from the scene, with the driver calling 9-1-1 to report the accident. At about the same time, a neighbor found the wounded woman, who was promptly treated by an emergency response officer.
Later, Dalton allegedly met his wife and children at his parents' home in Comstock Township. He explained to his wife that Equinox had been overtaken by a disgruntled taxi driver at the Chevrolet Impala, who fired a shot at him outraged by his effort taken by Uber. He then assures him that he called Uber and they handle the incident. He also gave his wife with a 9 mm Taurus pistol, telling him that it is not safe to be at home without it. In addition, he instructed him not to go to work and not bring their children to school. Dalton then tries to go on Hummer H3, but will not start, so he picks up a black Chevrolet HHR whose wife is driving. When he leaves, he tells his wife that he can not tell what is going on, but it will be news.
Upon leaving, Dalton withdrew money from the automated teller machine at 6:44. Then, after driving for about 35 minutes, he allegedly returned to his home and replaced the gun. He then leaves at 7:37 and continues to accept Uber's request, which he does without incident. No passengers did she notice anything unusual or alarming about her. That night, at 8:26 pm, Dalton called his wife and told her not to call her parents.
Dealer Kia and Cracker Barrel Cracking
At 10:01, the shooter arrives at a Kia dealer in Kalamazoo. According to one witness, after parking his car, the shooter approached his girlfriend and father at 10:05, and asked what they saw. Before they could respond, he fired about eighteen rounds, which fatalized both men. Other witnesses in the Burger King parking lot across the street recorded a runaway shooter, and one was called 9-1-1 a minute after the shot was fired.
About ten minutes later, the third shooting took place outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Texas Township, located about 5 miles (8.0 km) from Kia dealers. Four people sitting in two vehicles were killed and one other wounded. The gunman reportedly approached one victim in a white van, asked a question, and then fired it before firing into an adjacent vehicle, which contained another victim. The shooting took about a minute before the gunman fled. He is alleged to have returned home and refilled his weapons there.
Dalton's police response, poaching and catching
After officers responded to the shootings of dealers Kia heard reports of shots at Cracker Barrel, they realized there might be active cellular shooters. When interviewing witnesses, the police learned that the gunman was driving a dark HHR Chevrolet. Using the newly installed security footage from Kia dealers, the police described the gunman's description on the radio. Kalamazoo Public Security Department (KDPS) issued a statement to the public on its Facebook page, warning residents to be on guard against the shooter and his vehicle. Many vehicle traffic stops matching the description of the gunman was also done. In addition, several reports of shots at several locations, including the Western Michigan University (WMU) campus, were investigated but eventually determined to be fake.
As the police continued their hunt, Dalton reportedly continued to accept Uber tariffs. At 12: 04 am on February 21, he picked up three people and dropped them off at the dormitory on the WMU campus. The passengers then remembered that their driver was not very friendly, but did nothing to scare them. Then, at 12:12, Dalton took four people and drove them to their hotel. During the trip, a passenger, who had heard the report about the shooting party, jokingly asked Dalton, "Are you the shooter?" Dalton simply replied, "No." A few minutes later, he picks up three more people, and like the previous trip, a passenger asks if he's a shooter, who was strongly rejected by Dalton.
At 12:36, a police sergeant with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office watched Dalton take down three passengers, follow him, and ask for help. He joins a KDPS officer, and both do stop traffic at 12:40. When additional officers arrived, the first two pulled Dalton out of his vehicle and arrested him. At the time of his arrest, Dalton wore a jacket he bought from a gun shop, along with a bulletproof vest. He told police he bought a vest for his son, who is an explorer for the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office. They found a gun at the back of his belt.
Police believe there were no casualties in a separate place connected. At least 30 rounds are said to be fired during the shootings.
Maps 2016 Kalamazoo shootings
Suspect
Jason Brian Dalton (born June 22, 1970) was identified by police as a suspect in the shootings. Police arrested Dalton on February 21 at around 12:40 am EST without incident, after pulling his vehicle, a black HHR Chevrolet that matched the description of the holiday vehicle in the shootings.
After his arrest, Dalton confessed to the shootings. However, he blamed his actions on his Uber mobile app, claiming that the symbol was similar to the East Star Order, and that it took over his body during the event after he pressed a new app button resembling a Devil when it suddenly appeared. He then says that he no longer has this problem. Police show that he has no known criminal history or mental health record.
Personal life
Dalton grew up in Greenfield, Indiana, and went to high school and up near Charlottesville. He also attended Comstock High School in Kalamazoo, graduating in 1989. He also attended Kalamazoo Valley Community College and graduated in December 1992 with a law-enforcement degree, even though he did not enroll in a school's police academy program.
According to an old friend, Dalton has been trying to find a job as a police officer in Michigan or in nearby states, but can not afford, and is not interested in moving far to find a police job. Instead, he studied the auto-body work at WyoTech in Laramie, Wyoming, and found work at the BMW office in New Jersey at one point. This allows him to get a job as a mechanic and then an insurance adjuster.
Dalton worked as a driver for Uber for two weeks before the mass murder and purportedly took the cost of the shooting incident. Uber's representative stated that Dalton has passed the company's background check.
A former Dalton colleague at an insurance company remembers seeing Dalton shouting to customers over the phone, slamming down the phone, and pacing the table angrily afterward. Dalton had previously been informed of the professionalism towards customers. In an interview, another customer reported a meeting with Dalton where he called him back to re-examine a vehicle for Dalton's damage that had been missed in his judgment. He describes Dalton as unprofessional and tends to get angry.
At the time of the shooting, Dalton married and had two children. The family lives near Township Cooper. He is generally described as "good man" and "good family man", although it is reported that he had acted depressed in the days before the shooting took place. Later, neighbors said Dalton had acted paranoid just before the shooting took place.
In the week before the shooting, Dalton had been questioned by a deputy with the County Sheriff's Office of Calhoun, who was investigating a series of shootings along Interstate 94 and Interstate 69. Although Dalton was traveling in the area where the shootings occurred and has become an insurance adjuster. for a broken sheriff's patrol vehicle, he's released from any involvement.
Weapon
The Walther P99 9mm semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine was found from inside the Dalton car. Police believe that Walther P99 was used during the last two shootings, while 19 19 Glock 19 semi-automatic pistols were used in the first shootings; Dalton reportedly switched weapons after Glock functioned while firing. Among other items, fifteen other firearms (eleven long guns and four pistols) were found from his home.
Dalton bought Glock from the Oshtemo Township rifle shop on June 12, 2015. He then bought Walther from the same store later that year, on August 22nd. However, he has no license to carry hidden weapons. The Glock is one of four pistols taken from Dalton's house.
Victim
The first people killed were Tyler D. Smith (17), and his father Richard E. Smith (53), both of whom were killed at Kia's car dealership. Four women - Mary Jo Nye (60), Mary Lou Nye (62), Dorothy Brown (74), and Barbara Hawthorne (68) - were killed at Cracker Barrel. The four women were friends, and Mary Jo Nye and Mary Lou Nye were sisters-in-law.
Abigail Kopf (14) suffered several injuries to Cracker Barrel, including a gunshot wound to the head. At the time of his shooting, he accompanied his grandmother, victim of Cracker Barrel, Barbara Hawthorne. He was initially thought to have died, but was later confirmed to have survived. On February 23, he continued to use the ventilator and was in critical condition, though he breathed on his own on February 28 and can open his eyes on March 3. Kopf left the Bronson Methodist Hospital on March 8 and was transferred to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His skull was damaged during the Cracker Barrel shooting, and he underwent surgery at Bronson Methodist Hospital to replace the missing part of his skull. He had to undergo surgery again due to an infection caused by his previous surgery. Kopf was dumped on July 26 and allowed to go home, but had to undergo surgery again on August 17 because of a related skin infection. The operation was completed two days later.
Tiana Carruthers (25) was the first victim to be shot in the shooting, shot four times in the left arm, leg, and back, but survived. The shooting took place in the parking lot of an apartment in Richland City. His arm should be reconstructed operationally as a result of the shootings. He will undergo two more operations at his feet due to a medical setback.
Legal process
On February 22, 2016, Dalton was charged with sixteen allegations including six counts of murder, two counts of assault for murder, and eight charges of using firearms during a crime. He reappears in court on March 10 for a preliminary hearing examination. On March 3, he was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine his competence to stand trial. He reappeared in court on April 22, where he was ruled by the Michigan Center for Forensic Psychiatry that he was found competent to stand trial. Eusebio Solis, former Assistant Chief Representative of Calhoun County and former Calhoun County Commissioner, was appointed to represent Dalton in court.
Dalton appeared on May 20 for a preliminary hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to prosecute him on the charge. During the trial, Dalton makes an oral explosion and interrupts Tiana Carruthers, the first victim to attack in the shootings, as he testifies. He reportedly made "unimaginable statements" and caused the Carruthers to weep, forcing time off to be called. Dalton was detained and removed from the courtroom by a sheriff's deputy. The trial resumed during the day, with Dalton participating through a video hookup from prison.
On June 6, after the pre-trial conference, Dalton's lawyers announced their plan to present a legal defense of their legal insanity. He will undergo a psychiatric evaluation conducted by the Michigan Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Saline, a process that is expected to be carried out over the next 60 days. His trial is expected to begin in late September or early October. The status conference is tentatively set for August 15th. On August 12, the conference was postponed to September 30, with chief prosecutor Kalamazoo County saying that the evaluation was not over. On that day, the conference was postponed again because Dalton's psychological report was not finished.
Reaction
After the shootings, Governor Rick Snyder conveyed his condolences on Twitter, writing, "The Kalamazoo family of victims is in our minds today, thanking @KalPublicSafety @MichStatePolice @KzooSheriff for fast catching".
Joe Sullivan, Chief Security Officer of Uber, released a statement that read, "We are horrified and heartbroken over the unreasonable violence in Kalamazoo, Michigan Our hearts and prayers are with the families of these devastating crime victims and those who have recovered from injuries We have contacted the police to assist in their investigation in any way we can. "Calls were made to Uber to improve his background checking system.
In response to the shooting, President Barack Obama praised law enforcement agencies and promised federal support for ongoing investigations.
After the shootings, there was a public outcry when it was revealed that no active-shooter warnings could be sent to residents of the Kalamazoo area and students at the University of Western Michigan. An editorial call for an emergency alert system for such high profile incidents was published by Michigan Live six days after the shootings. In March, legislation for a statewide alert system was introduced. This warning system will disseminate information about the situation of an active shooter or other emergency and protect the population. It involves local law enforcement agencies sending information to the Michigan State Police, which is then responsible for sending warning text messages using geolocation technology, similar to the AMBER Alert system. On May 10, the House of Representatives of Michigan approved the law. On June 9, the Michigan Senate approved the law and sent it to Governor Snyder for consideration. Snyder signed the law on 24 June.
See also
- The killer list goes berserk (America)
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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