As investigators try to determine the motive behind the shooting rampage that took six lives Saturday night in Kalamazoo, more details are emerging about the arrest of the accused gunman Jason Dalton.
Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. James Harrison was on patrol when he learned that a killer was on the move.
"While stopped at a stoplight at Main and Michigan, I just happened to look over to my right,” Harrison told WOOD-TV. “I just happened to see a dark colored, what appeared to be a Chevy HHR, with a white male driving it coming through the parking lot.”
That’s when 16 years of experience kicked in.
Harrison called for back-up before pulling the driver over.
It was Dalton.
Harrison said Dalton did whatever he was told.
With his hands up, police discovered the first key piece of evidence: a handgun in Dalton’s front pocket.
But Harrison won’t call himself a hero.
“I feel that my actions were just part of a team effort,” Harrison said. “Any one of the officers could have spotted the same car I’d have been there to back them up.”
Dalton, 45, is charged with six counts of murder, which carry a mandatory life sentence. He was denied bail.
Killed were Rich and Tyler Smith, Mary Lou Nye, Mary Jo Nye, Dorothy Brown and Barbara Hawthorne.
“Hopefully they can just find the peace to know that we have found the suspect and we have stopped him before he could hurt anybody else,” Harrison said.