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Surveillance video shows accused Kalamazoo shooter dropping off Uber passengers

Posted at 4:07 PM, Mar 18, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-18 16:07:58-04

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The City of Kalamazoo on Friday released surveillance video that shows Jason Dalton dropping off Uber passengers after the Feb. 20 shooting spree.

The videos show Dalton's black Chevy HHR outside the Radisson hotel in Kalamazoo.  Passengers are seen exiting the vehicle before Dalton drives away.

Officials say the videos were recorded at about 12:15 a.m. Feb. 21, about 25 minutes before Dalton was arrested.

Dalton is accused of shooting eight people, killing six in the Feb. 20 shootings.  Authorities say he carried out the shootings in between driving passengers for Uber.

The shootings began at about 6 p.m. Feb. 20 at Meadows Townhomes.  Tiana Carruthers was shot and seriously injured while trying to protect children from the gunfire.  She continues to recover in the hospital.

Dalton then allegedly opened fire at the Seelye Kia Dealership on Stadium Drive at about 10:15 p.m., killing Rich Smith and his son Tyler Smith while they looked at cars.

About 15 minutes later, Dalton shot five other people in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Texas Township, police say.  Four of those victims, Mary Lou Nye, Mary Jo Nye, Dorothy Brown and Barbara Hawthorne, were killed. Abigail Kopf, 14, is currently in a Grand Rapids rehabilitation facility.

Dalton was arrested at about 12:40 a.m. Sunday near Ransom and Porter streets in Kalamazoo.

A police report says Dalton told investigators he was being controlled by the Uber app through his cellphone.

A judge has ordered Dalton undergo a mental competency exam with the Center for Forensic Psychiatry before moving the case forward. A preliminary hearing date has been rescheduled for May 10.