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Police photo
Jason Brian Dalton

Michigan shooting spree suspect confirmed as Uber driver

Investigators believe that Dalton was still looking for fares after the shooting rampage.

A MAN ARRESTED early yesterday on suspicion of shooting dead six people in the northern US state of Michigan was an Uber driver who may have picked up fares during the killing spree.

Uber confirmed that the suspect, 45-year-old Jason Brian Dalton, was a driver for the lift-sharing company, adding he had passed a background check and had no criminal record.

“We have reached out to the police to help with their investigation in any way that we can,” Uber’s chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, said in a statement.

Dalton was apprehended at 12:40am local time yesterday. He is believed to be the gunman who opened fire at three different locations in the city of Kalamazoo, killing six people and seriously wounding two others, police said.

A woman was seriously wounded outside an apartment complex, two people were killed at a car dealership, and four more were shot to death at a chain restaurant, where a teenage girl was also seriously wounded.

Kalamazoo County prosecutor Jeff Getting said Dalton, who surrendered without incident during a traffic stop, will face murder charges in court today.

There is “no reason to believe” more than one person was involved in the crime, Getting added.

Dalton picked up and dropped off passengers between shootings, CNN reported, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the investigation.

Investigators believe that Dalton was still looking for fares after the shooting rampage, the source said.

© – AFP 2016

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