Passengers Recount Rides With Uber Driver Accused in Kalamazoo Killings

Victims of a shooting spree are being mourned in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Jason Dalton, the 45-year-old man suspected of killing six people Saturday, is expected to be arraigned Monday. Police have been trying to determine a motive for what seem to be random attacks.

Several Uber passengers have come forward to say they rode with Dalton on Saturday before and after the shootings.

Matt Mellen told WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo that Jason Dalton picked him up at around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. He said Dalton introduced himself as "Me-Me" and that he sat in front, since Dalton had his dog in the backseat.

Mellen said about a mile into the trip, Dalton got a phone call and that when he hung up, he began driving erratically, blowing through stop signs and sideswiping cars.

"We were driving through medians, driving through the lawn, speeding along, and when we came to a stop, I jumped out the car and ran away," said Mellen. He said he called the police and that when he got to his friend's house, his fiancee posted a warning to friends on Facebook.

Mellen said he also tried warning the ride-hailing service.

"I'm upset because I tried contacting Uber after I had talked to the police, saying that we needed to get this guy off the road," said Mellen.

Another witness tells NPR that he rode with Dalton shortly before the suspect was arrested in the center of town — and that they briefly discussed the shootings.

"Dalton was driving for Uber that night and stopped after midnight to pick up Derek — who asked NPR to only use his middle name because he's afraid of retribution from speaking about his encounter," NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports.

That encounter occurred after midnight, more than six hours after the first of three shootings — and during a manhunt that had police on the lookout for a Chevrolet like Dalton's.

Here's what Derek told Hansi:

"I jokingly said to the driver, 'You aren't the shooter, are you?' and he either shook his head or said no, and I said, 'Are you sure?'

"And his response wasn't like you would expect, like a laugh. It was just very calm and quiet. It was, 'I'm just tired. No, I'm just tired.'"

Dalton was arrested about a half-hour later, Hansi reports. On Sunday, Uber confirmed that Dalton was a driver and had passed the company's background check. Police have said he did not have a criminal record.

Michigan State Police believe Dalton is the man who fired around 10 shots outside an apartment complex around 5:42 p.m. ET, wounding a woman who is now listed as being in serious condition.

That woman, whose name hasn't been released, is "a hero," Kalamazoo Sheriff Richard Fuller tells local TV news WWMT. Explaining that she was in an area where several children were when the shooting started, Fuller says, "This person put themselves between the children and the shooter, right away."

The violence continued more than four hours later, when a father and son — Richard Eugene Smith, 53, and Tyler Daniel Smith, 17, both from Kalamazoo — were shot and killed at the Seelye Ford Kia car dealership.

That shooting was reported at 10:08 p.m. Minutes later, the third shooting was reported, at a parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant. That's where police say four women were killed after two vehicles — a Chevrolet Cruze and an Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan — were fired upon.

State police released the names of those victims Sunday:

• Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda, Michigan (driver of Oldsmobile minivan);
• Mary Jo Nye, 60, of Battle Creek, Michigan (driver of Chevrolet);
• Dorothy Brown, 74, of Battle Creek, Michigan (rear driver-side passenger of Chevrolet);
• Barbara Hawthorne, 68, of Battle Creek, Michigan (rear passenger-side passenger of Chevrolet).

A 14-year-old girl who was a passenger in the Chevrolet survived the shooting and was listed in critical condition late Sunday.

Prayer vigils and remembrances were held for the victims last night. Gov. Rick Snyder has ordered Michigan's state buildings to fly the state and U.S. flags at half-staff for the next six days, to honor each of the six who died.

This post contains reporting from The Associated Press.

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