Uber driver charged in Kalamazoo shootings switched cars during deadly rampage

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Michigan Uber driver charged with murdering six people changed vehicles after sideswiping a car at the start of the shooting spree, authorities said on Tuesday, adding that they hoped his phone would help establish a motive for the killings.

Jason Dalton, 45, was denied bail on Monday after a court in which a detective testified that Dalton admitted to the five-hour shooting rampage over the weekend in Kalamazoo, about 150 miles (240 km) west of Detroit.

Searching for a motive for the violence, investigators are now focusing on a gun and a cell phone seized from Dalton and reports that he drove fares for the Uber car-hailing service in between the shooting episodes, said Paul Matyas of the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department.

Prosecutors say Dalton randomly shot at people at an apartment complex, a car dealership and a Cracker Barrel restaurant, killing six and wounding two. During the spree, he switched cars, moving from a silver Chevy Equinox to a darker colored Chevy HHR, both vehicles belonging to his family, Matyas said.

"Right after the first shooting at the apartments, he left the scene and sideswiped a car," Matyas said. "So he switched from the Equinox to the HHR."

One of the Uber customers he picked up just before the shootings started told WWMT-TV that Dalton got a call on his cell phone and subsequently "he started driving erratically, running stop signs."

Matyas said investigators were focusing on Dalton's ties to Uber and working to "track his phone calls, track his whereabouts" in the hours before his arrest early on Sunday.

Additional weapons were seized from the Dalton home, said Matyas, who declined further details. All of the guns were legally obtained and Dalton had no prior criminal record, authorities said.

"We are no closer to a motive two days later than 10 minutes after he was arrested," Matyas said.

The two surviving victims include a 14-year-old girl, Abigail Kopf, who is in critical condition and Tiana Carruthers, 25, who was seriously wounded but is expected to recover.