Shooting deaths in the United States have become so frequent that we risk becoming numb to them. However, a 2016 incident in Kalamazoo, Michigan, shocked the small town. The attacker was Jason Dalton, an Uber driver with no previous record of violence.
Jason Dalton
Jason Dalton was born and spent his earlier years in Greenfield, Indiana, but graduated from Kalamazoo High School in 1989. He graduated from Kalamazoo Valley Community College with an associate degree in law enforcement but did not enroll in the police academy program. Although he tried to find a job with police departments in Michigan and nearby states, he was unsuccessful. Instead, he studied auto body work in Wyoming and later worked as a mechanic and an insurance adjuster.
Some coworkers witnessed incidents where Dalton became angry with customers, although no one saw him become physically violent. One customer reported an incident where he had to ask Dalton to return to examine damage he missed in his initial appraisal. Reportedly, the insurance company counseled Dalton about his standard of professionalism in his relationships with customers.
In 2016, Dalton lived with his wife, Carole, and two children near Kalamazoo in Cooper Township. He had recently begun driving for ridesharing company Uber.
Jason Dalton Goes Bonkers
On February 20, 2016, Jason Dalton visited three Kalamazoo gun stores with a friend. At one store, he bought a black jacket with pockets designed to hold and conceal a handgun. The store owner described him as an occasional customer, although he never bought guns there. He thought Dalton was in good spirits during the visit.
Around 4:00 p.m., Dalton accepted a ride from Matt Mellen, arriving at Mellen’s house in a silver Chevrolet Equinox. During the drive, Dalton received a call. After hanging up, he began driving erratically, using the oncoming traffic lane, ignoring a stop sign, and sideswiping a Ford Taurus. All the while, Mellen pleaded with Dalton to stop. When he finally did stop at another stop sign, Mellen jumped out and called 911, giving the operator Dalton’s license plate number. The dispatcher put out a BOLO (Be On the LookOut) for the Chevy Equinox.
At 4:34, Dalton returned home. He was en route to meet his wife when he accepted another ride request at 5:15. The female rider wanted to pick up her boyfriend at the Richland Township Apartments.
Jason Dalton Starts Shooting
At about 5:42 p.m., a man confronted Tiana Carruthers in the apartment complex parking lot. After a brief verbal exchange, the man turned his car around and began shooting, firing about fifteen rounds (ten shell casings were recovered). Hit four times, the woman survived by playing dead. Five children, including the victim’s daughter, were present but escaped injury because of her ruse.
Dalton met his wife and children at his parents’ home in Comstock Township. He fed her a bogus story to explain the damage to the Equinox. When he left, he took the black Chevrolet HHR his wife had been driving. He allegedly told her he could not tell her what was happening but that it would be on the news.
After returning home and allegedly switching handguns, Dalton continued to accept Uber ride requests, completing these rides without incident. His passengers did not notice anything unusual or frightening in his behavior.
Jason Dalton Strikes Twice More
Just after 10:00 p.m., Dalton arrived at a Kia automobile dealership, got out of his car, and approached Tyler Smith, Smith’s father, Richard Smith, and the younger man’s girlfriend. He approached the trio and asked them what they were looking at. Before any of them could answer, he opened fire with eighteen rounds and then fled. One man was hit nine times, the other seven. Both died at the scene. The woman was unhurt.
Another shooting occurred about ten minutes later at a Cracker Barrell restaurant in Texas Township, approximately five miles from the Kia dealership. Gunfire killed four people in two vehicles and wounded another. The attack lasted about a minute before the shooter fled. Mary Jo Nye, Mary Lou Nye, Dorothy “Judy” Brown, and Barbara Hawthorne died. All four were friends, and the two Nye women were sisters-in-law. Fourteen-year-old Abigail Kopf was seriously wounded.
Police Hunt Jason Dalton
Officers responding to the Kia dealership shooting heard reports of gunfire at the Cracker Barrel and realized a mobile active shooter was on the loose. Witnesses described the black Chevy HHR, and security video from the dealership provided a description of the suspect. Police conducted traffic stops for vehicles matching the description of the gunman’s car.
While the police dragnet was underway, Dalton continued to accept Uber rides. On at least two occasions, his passengers asked if he was the shooter, which he denied.
At 12:36, a sergeant with the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office spotted Dalton dropping off three passengers. The officer followed him and requested backup. A Kalamazoo officer joined him, and the two conducted a traffic stop. They waited for additional backup before pulling Dalton from the HHR and arresting him. Dalton was wearing the jacket he purchased earlier in the day and a bulletproof vest. Arresting officers found a handgun at the back of his waistband.
Dalton confessed to the shootings after his arrest but blamed them on the Uber mobile app. He claimed its symbol resembled that of the Order of the Eastern Star (a Masonic organization) and that it took over his body when he pressed the button.
Epilogue
Carole Dalton filed for divorce the week after the shootings.
Dalton’s lawyers wanted to present an insanity defense. Instead, after multiple delays, he pleaded guilty to all charges on January 7, 2019. He was sentenced to life without parole. Today (2025), he resides at the Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee, Michigan.
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