Kalamazoo County prosecutor Jeff Getting said he expects charges to be brought against Jason Brian Dalton on Monday. Dalton is accused of shooting eight people — six of them fatally — in three separate incidents Saturday evening. A motive has not yet been determined, Getting said.
The suspect in the deadly shooting spree in Kalamazoo is identified as Jason Brian Dalton, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said Sunday morning. Dalton is accused of killing six people in three separate Kalamazoo County.
At least six people were killed during a shooting spree in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, authorities said.
A seventh victim — a 14-year-old — who was previously reported as dead is still alive, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said at a press conference Sunday morning.
In all, eight people were shot in three locations Saturday, Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas told CNN.
He said all three shooting incidents appear to be related.
“What it looks like is we have someone just driving around, finding people and shooting them dead in their tracks,” Matyas told CNN affiliate WOOD-TV.
“This is your worst nightmare, when you have somebody just driving around randomly killing people.”
Police have a “strong suspect” in custody, Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley told CNN affiliate WWMT.
The suspect — a 45-year-old male — was taken into custody without incident in downtown Kalamazoo early Sunday morning, Hadley said.
“The threat to the public is over,” Matyas told WOOD. “We know this is our suspect. He is in custody.”
Authorities recovered a weapon from the suspect’s car, he said. Police have not identified a possible motive for the shootings.
Three shootings
The first shooting took place around 6 p.m., when a woman was shot four times in an apartment complex parking lot, Matyas said. She was with her three children. The woman is in serious condition.
Shortly after 10 p.m., two people were shot and killed at a car dealership, Matyas said. Hadley believes the victims were there looking at a vehicle.
Kelly Bainbridge was with her fiance and friends at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo when she started getting texts and calls from concerned family members about the gunman.
“As the shootings continued to occur, the situation because more frightening,” Bainbridge told CNN. She was less than 4 miles away from the dealership.
Some of her friends decided to leave the bar, but Bainbridge and her fiance stayed. The brewery’s owner locked the doors to protect his patrons.
Less than 8 miles away, the third shooting occurred, this time outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Five people — including a girl — in two separate cars were shot and killed, Michigan State Police Lt. Dale Hinz told WOOD.
“This is obviously a tragic event. Any time a community loses six people in senseless, random acts of violence, (it) is just tragedy for everyone,” Hadley told WWMT. “It’s really tough.”
The suspect was arrested about two blocks away from the brewery, Bainbridge said.
“As we were leaving, we could see police cars and flashing lights just north of us,” ” she said, “but nothing more.”
