Kalamazoo Shooter Facing Life In Prison For Killing Six People On A Rampage — Investigators Say He Murdered ‘Casually’

A man named Jason B. Dalton has reportedly confessed to the horrific Kalamazoo shootings that took place on Saturday evening, admitting in a very “matter-of-fact” manner that he “took people’s lives” while in police custody, but he provided no obvious motive.

According to the Huffington Post, the Kalamazoo shooter is facing 6 counts of murder for killing five adults and one teenager, as well as two counts of attempted murder and eight felony gun charges. If Jason Dalton is convicted, he could be sent to prison for the rest of his life.

The 45-year-old Kalamazoo shooter was arraigned on Monday at the Kalamazoo County Courthouse, having been denied bail. He reportedly sat stoic in court showing no emotion or facial expressions. And when he was asked if he would like to comment on the violent rampage, Dalton replied, “I would prefer just to remain silent.”

The chilling complacency that the Kalamazoo shooter seems to exhibit toward the crimes could help to explain why the attacks seem to have been completely unprovoked. According to CNN, authorities have discovered no obvious connection between his victims, leading them to believe Jason Dalton randomly selected innocent people to kill.

“There isn’t a connection that we’ve been able to establish between any of the three victim groups with each other, any of the three victim groups with the defendant,” said prosecutor Jeffrey Getting. “It just is, well, it was random, unprovoked violence.”

The motive becomes even more mysterious when you learn that the Kalamazoo shooter had no previous arrest record and no indication of mental instability or violent tendencies.

“He had no record. He wasn’t on any of our radars,” said Kalamazoo Undersheriff Paul Matyas. “We’re trying to determine what’s going through his mind.”

Matyas added that the Kalamazoo shooter probably obtained his firearms legally.

Among the injured is a 14-year-old girl who is still in critical condition. Her parents recently released a statement saying her “prognosis is uncertain as she continues fighting for her life.” If the Kalamazoo shooter’s youngest victim fails to pull through, the charges stacked against him will only grow more severe.

Investigators are trying to crack open the bizarre and disturbing attacks by analyzing the stranger details. For example, the Kalamazoo shooter reportedly was picking up passengers as part of the Uber service in between killings. There was also a four-hour span of time between Dalton’s attacks, leaving authorities wondering what happened in that period of peace and why the Kalamazoo shooter took such a long pause.

Several people who used Uber in the same area were aware, at the time, that an Uber driver was going on a rampage. According to local news Wood TV, one man got in an Uber car and had to nervously ask the driver if he was, in fact, the Kalamazoo shooter,

“My father mentioned from the back seat, you know, the situation with the shooter. I kind of jokingly said to the driver, ‘You’re not the shooter, are you?’ He gave me some sort of a ‘no’ response… shook his head… I said, ‘Are you sure?'”

Family members of the victims have been mourning their losses as best they can, still confused about what would drive Jason Dalton to such unprovoked violence. It’s possible that investigators may never find the true motive.

“These were very deliberate killings,” said prosecutor Getting. “This wasn’t hurried in any way, shape or form. They were intentional, deliberate and I don’t want to say casually done. Coldly done is what I want to say.”

What do you think provoked the Kalamazoo shooter?

[Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images]