A man arrested early Sunday on suspicion of shooting dead six people in the northern US state of Michigan was an Uber driver who may have been picking up fares just before the killing spree began.
Uber confirmed that the suspect, 45-year-old Jason Brian Dalton, was a driver for the ride-sharing company, adding he had passed a background check and had no criminal record.
"We have reached out to the police to help with their investigation in any way that we can," Uber's chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, said in a statement.
Dalton was apprehended at 12:40 am Sunday (0540 GMT). He is believed to be the gunman who opened fire at three different locations in the city of Kalamazoo, killing six people and seriously wounding two others, police said.
A woman was seriously wounded outside an apartment complex, two people were killed at a car dealership, and four more were shot to death at a chain restaurant where a teenage girl was seriously wounded.
Kalamazoo County prosecutor Jeff Getting said Dalton, who surrendered without incident during a traffic stop, will face murder charges in court on Monday.
There is "no reason to believe" more than one person was involved in the crime, Getting added.
Local resident Matt Mellen said he was Dalton's passenger just a few of hours before the rampage began, and was taken on a hair-raising ride.
"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," Mellen told WWMT, a CBS affiliate.
"He wouldn't stop. He just kind of kept looking at me like -- 'Don't you want to get to your friend's house' and I'm like, I want to get there alive."
Mellen said he jumped out of the car at 4:30 pm, and called 911, the phone number for emergencies. He told his fiancee what had happened and she posted Dalton's picture on Facebook as a warning to others.
"We're looking into his connection to Uber and whether or not he was picking up fares in between the shootings," Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley said, according to CNN.
- 'Your worst nightmare' -
The shootings began at 6:00 pm.
"What it looks like is we have somebody driving around, finding people and shooting them dead in their tracks," Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas told local media.
"This is your worst nightmare, when you have somebody just driving around randomly killing people," he added.
The gunman's first victim was a woman who was with her three children outside an apartment complex when she was shot, he said.
She was seriously wounded but is expected to survive.
The gunman next struck at 10:00 pm, killing an 18-year-old boy and an adult male at a car dealership, according to Getting, described as father and son by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.
The last and deadliest shooting came 10 to 15 minutes later at the Cracker Barrel restaurant where four more people were killed, according to Getting.
Video at the car dealership and the restaurant helped police identify the shooter's car, he said.
Dalton was arrested about two hours later when a sheriff's deputy saw his car leaving a local bar in downtown Kalamazoo.
"He followed the car. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety was able to mobilize people as a backup. They pulled the car over without incident. They were able to make an arrest of the suspect without any significant incident," Getting said.
Police seized a semi-automatic handgun and "additional evidence" from the car, the prosecutor added.
Dalton was "pretty even-tempered" during his arrest, Getting said.
Kalamazoo is located some 190 kilometers (160 miles) west of Detroit and has a population of 76,000.
- 'Hearts are broken' -
Snyder ordered flags lowered for six days starting Monday in honor of each victim and met with families of people who were hospitalized.
"Our hearts are broken for the victims' families and friends, and I join in mourning their loss," the governor said.
Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton tweeted: "Our hearts are in Kalamazoo today."
"We must end this epidemic. Communities across the country are paying the cost for inaction" on gun control, she added.
The killings there were the latest in a string of mass shootings in the United States that include the December 2 massacre in San Bernardino, California that left 14 people dead, and the December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre in which 20 children and six adults were shot dead.
Gun violence claims the lives of about 30,000 Americans every year and mass shootings -- rare in most countries -- have been on the rise.
According to the tracking website gunviolencearchive.org, there were 330 mass shootings in 2015, up from 281 in 2014.
AFP
Mon Feb 22 2016
A general view of the Cracker Barrel where a gunman went on a shooting rampage, on February 21, 2016 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. - AFP photo
9 maut dalam letupan kilang bunga api di selatan India
Letupan berlaku berhampiran Sivakasi di daerah Virudhunagar, kira-kira 550 km dari ibu negeri Chennai.
[KOLUMNIS] PRK KKB: Perang naratif di Kuala Kubu Baharu
PILIHAN RAYA KECIL (PRK) Kuala Kubu Baharu telah menjadi pusat tumpuan bagi pemerhati dan penganalisis politik, termasuk pakar strategi Kerajaan Perpaduan dan Perikatan Nasional (PN).
MCA minta KDN siasat DJ Korea cuba menyamar sami
Tular video yang memaparkan penampilan sulung DJ tersebut membuat persembahan dengan memakai jubah sami berwarna putih di kelab malam.
Deftech, UPNM tingkat R&D berkaitan sistem pesawat tanpa pemandu, sektor automotif
Kerjasama akan menyaksikan kedua-dua pihak meningkatkan inisiatif R&D bersama untuk teknologi sistem tanpa pemandu.
Kilang pau terkemuka diserbu, sijil halal tamat tempoh sejak dua tahun lalu
KPDN telah menahan seorang lelaki tempatan berusia 50-an yang dipercayai pemilik kilang serta merakam keterangan.
AWANI Pagi: Pelancaran fakulti AI pertama di Malaysia
Ikuti AWANI Pagi bersama Nursyazwani Saiful Sham & Azib Zikry, langsung dari World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, sempena pelancaran Malaysia Artificial Intelligence Nexus.
My AI Nexus 2024: Tingkat digitalisasi rakyat, pacu ekonomi negara
Ketua Penyelidik Pengujian & Kebolehgunaan Perisian Pendidikan, Jabatan Sains Komputer & Teknologi Digital, Fakulti Komputeran & Meta-Teknologi, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Prof. Madya Ts Dr Shamsul Arrieya Ariffin berkongsi pandangan berkenaan adaptasi digital rakyat serta bagaimana AI mampu memacu pembangunan ekonomi negara.
Niaga Spotlight: Combatting corruption via strategic approaches
This week’s launch of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) 2024-2028 by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is a concrete step for a national corruption suppression strategy.
Deriving from GDP estimates between 2018 and 2023, Malaysia has lost at least RM277 billion to corruption over the past five years alone.
This staggering figure highlights the economic and social impacts of graft, which could have been much better allocated towards key national development priorities.
Niaga Spotlight discusses strategic approaches for combatting corruption with Reinushini Chandrasegaram, Managing Director, RC Compliance Sdn Bhd.
Deriving from GDP estimates between 2018 and 2023, Malaysia has lost at least RM277 billion to corruption over the past five years alone.
This staggering figure highlights the economic and social impacts of graft, which could have been much better allocated towards key national development priorities.
Niaga Spotlight discusses strategic approaches for combatting corruption with Reinushini Chandrasegaram, Managing Director, RC Compliance Sdn Bhd.
Pempengaruh maut ditembak di restoran
Rakaman kamera CCTV dalam restoran tersebut menunjukkan pempengaruh itu ditembak sebanyak tiga kali sebelum penyerang melarikan diri.
PRK KKB: 39,362 pengundi tunai tanggungjawab esok
Seramai 39,362 pengundi akan menunaikan tanggungjawab untuk memilih wakil rakyat baharu PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu esok.
COVID-19: Over 100 individuals in Penang undergo test
Most of them were tested negative for the disease while others are still waiting for the results, Penang Chief Minister said.