Michigan

Kalamazoo shootings: Police have found no motive for shooting rampage

(Photo supplied/Kalamazoo County Jail)

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — The Latest on the shootings in the Kalamazoo, Michigan, area (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

A law enforcement official says investigators haven’t found a reason for the southwestern Michigan shooting rampage that left six people dead and two severely wounded.

Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas told The Associated Press Thursday a motive remains elusive five days into the investigation. That includes multiple interviews with Jason Dalton, the man police say admitted to Saturday’s Kalamazoo-area slayings and faces murder and attempted murder charges.

Authorities say Dalton ferried passengers as an Uber driver the evening of the attacks. A passenger says he reported Dalton’s erratic driving to police shortly before the shootings began, and the recklessness started after he received a phone call.

Matyas says that call doesn’t appear to be “any type of trigger mechanism” for the crimes.

Dalton’s attorney, Eusebio Solis, has declined to discuss the case. Paul Vlachos (vah-LOCK-us), a lawyer representing other members of Dalton’s family, tells ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Dalton was acting depressed leading up to the shootings but they also know of no motive.

11:30 a.m.

Funerals and memorial services have been planned for the six people slain in a weekend shooting rampage in southwestern Michigan.

A memorial service is set for Saturday for Mary Lou Nye at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Bridgman. Her sister-in-law, Mary Jo Nye, will be memorialized Sunday at Battle Creek’s Chapel Hill United Methodist Church.

A service for Barbara Hawthorne has been scheduled for Saturday at Battle Creek First Assembly. A private funeral service is planned Friday for Dorothy Brown.

A motorcycle group-led procession, service and balloon launch are set for Saturday for Richard Smith and son, Tyler, in Mattawan and Kalamazoo.

They were among the eight people shot Feb. 20 at three locations. Another woman and a 14-year-old girl were wounded.

Jason Dalton is charged with murder and attempted murder.

9:15 a.m.

A lawyer for the family of a man charged in a deadly Michigan shooting rampage tells ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he was acting depressed in the days before the shootings, but they know no motive for the killing of six people and injuring of two others.

Lawyer Paul Vlachos (vah-LOCK-us) says Jason Dalton, of Kalamazoo Township, was asked by his wife, Carole, why he was acting differently and he told her he was tired. Vlachos says Dalton was “a good father” and “well-liked.”

The 45-year-old is in the Kalamazoo County jail. Police say he admitted to the Saturday shootings, but they haven’t revealed a motive. They say Dalton was working as an Uber driver, picking up fares between three separate incidents.

Vlachos says Dalton’s wife is in disbelief.

Jason Dalton’s attorney, Eusebio Solis, declined to discuss the case Wednesday.

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