KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Jason Dalton was in court Thursday for a hearing about statements he made to police investigators after eight people were shot in February 2016 in the Kalamazoo area.
Dalton, 46, has pleaded insanity but he was found competent to stand trial on five counts of open murder, two counts of assault with intent to murder and eight felony weapons charges. He allegedly carried out the shootings while working as a driver for Uber.
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Six people were killed in the Feb. 20, 2016 shooting rampage while two others survived their injuries. Judy Brown, Barbara Hawthorne, Mary Jo Nye, Mary Lou Nye, and father and son Rich and Tyler Smith were killed. Tiana Carruthers and Abigail Kopf were seriously injured.
Thursday's court hearing at the Kalamazoo County Courthouse focused on Dalton's statements about the shooting spree to investigators right after his arrest. Dalton's defense wants the statements suppressed.
The judge heard arguments and witness testimony, and will have to decide whether to admit the statements as evidence. He said he will review the transcripts and video recordings and will issue an opinion by April 20.
Dalton's trial is scheduled for June 13.
Dalton: App 'started making him be like a puppet'
According to the arresting officer's report (view here), Dalton said when he logged onto the Uber app it "started making him be like a puppet." He told police he would have tried to have a "shootout with police, when the log in went from the black symbol back to the red, that's when Dalton stopped his thought."
"Dalton explained to us that when the app changed from red to black that is when he started having problems."
Dalton described 'devil figure' in Uber app
He told police during a series of interviews "the iPhone could take you over." He said he "wishes he would never have spoken what that symbol was when he saw it on his phone."
According to the report, Dalton described the devil figure as a "horned cow head or something like that and then it would give you an assignment and it would literally take over your whole body."
"He said it starts out that you have to follow the navigation, but it gets to the point where you don’t have to drive at all, the car just goes. He was seeing himself from outside of his body."
Dalton talked about the Masons and the Eastern Star symbol. He said his grandmother was in the Eastern Star and his grandfather was in the Masons.
Watch the arrest video here.
Dalton removed from court after outbursts
Dalton was dragged out of court during testimony from Carruthers in May. Dalton sat quiet during her testimony, but then made an apparent outburst which startled the woman on the stand. He had to be dragged out of the courtroom while she screamed. According to the Associated Press, he raised his voice in court Friday and talked about people with "black bags."
Judge Christopher Haenicke called a recess and deputies removed Dalton from court. He was taken back to jail where he will watch the rest of the hearing.
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