Prosecutors have charged accused Kalamazoo, Mich., shooting suspect Jason Brian Dalton on Monday with six counts of open murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder and eight firearms charges, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting announced Monday.
"The Kalamazoo community is reeling from these senseless acts of violence that took so many innocent lives from us," Getting said as he announced the charges, according to Michigan Live. "And our hearts are saddened for all of the victims, their families and friends who are dealing with this on a much more personal level. We are reaching out to these victims and offering all the resources of the Prosecutor's Office to help them at this very difficult time."
Dalton, 45, is expected to be arraigned Monday afternoon. He faces mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted of open murder, felony murder or first-degree murder.
The charges all stem from one night of terror on Saturday when Dalton posed as an Uber driver and drove around Kalamazoo country, shooting eight people and leaving six of them dead, according to NBC News.
His rampage began at 5:42 p.m. when he shot a woman in front of her children outside the Meadows Townhomes on G Avenue. Though the woman was hit multiple times, she is expected to survive.
Four hours later, on the other side of town, he fatally shot a father and son who were looking at cars at Seeyle Kia on Stadium Drive.
Minutes later, he drove to a Cracker Barrel restaurant parking lot and opened fire on a group of four women and a 14-year-old girl, killing the women and leaving the girl for dead until she miraculously showed signs of life as doctors prepared to harvest her organs.
The spate of shootings ended almost as quickly as it began with police tracking Dalton down two hours after his seven-hour rampage and arrested him in downtown Kalamazoo without incident, according to CNN.
With Dalton behind bars and set to be arraigned, everyone has been left with one question: "Why?" Dalton, a married father of two, had no police record that would indicate that he was capable of this act. Adding to the confusion is the fact that considering how far he drove for each shooting, its unlikely he knew each victim, leading authorities to believe that the shooting was simply done in the heat of the moment.
"My best sense is that it was somebody who was having an issue at the time and for whatever reason they decided to do what they did," said Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller.
The only clue authorities have to go by is a mysterious phone call Dalton reportedly received prior to the shooting. The question about the role of that phone call, along with many others, may soon be answered once police finish questioning him.
