PA Bill Number: SR77
Title: A Concurrent Resolution petitioning the Congress of the United States to call a Convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the ...
Description: A Concurrent Resolution petitioning the Congress of the United States to call a Convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the ...
Last Action: Reported as committed
Last Action Date: Apr 30, 2024
Mass shooting suspect Jason Dalton did not have concealed carry license :: 02/24/2016
KALAMAZOO, MI – The man accused of killing six people at random during a shooting spree in Kalamazoo did not have a license to carry a concealed weapon, authorities said.
Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Pali Matyas said he confirmed Tuesday Jason B. Dalton, 45, is not a concealed pistol license holder.
That confirmation answers one of several questions that have surrounded Dalton since he was arrested Sunday morning in connection with a shooting rampage Saturday that left six people dead and two others, including a 14-year-old girl, seriously injured.
For example, Matyas said he doesn't know how many guns Dalton had registered to him at his Cooper Township home and investigators have not said when Dalton purchased the alleged murder weapon – a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun – or whether the gun was properly registered and owned legally.
"As part of their investigation, the police will be looking at whether he legally owned the firearm that was seized ... as well as any other firearms that may have been seized during the course of this investigation," Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said. "... In addition to the gun that was seized, there were other items of evidentiary value seized from his person and the car."
Dalton, who is being held without bond in the Kalamazoo County Jail, appeared via video in district court Monday, where he was arraigned on six counts of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder and eight counts of felony firearm use.
Detectives who obtained an arrest warrant for Dalton prior to his arraignment said Dalton admitted to fatally shooting a father and son from Mattawan at 10:08 p.m. in the parking lot of Seelye Automotive on Stadium Drive. He also admitted to being at the scene of a shooting at 10:24 p.m. at a Cracker Barrel restaurant a few miles from there, where four women were killed and a 14-year-old girl was critically injured.
Additionally, detectives said Tiana Carruthers, who was shot multiple times outside The Meadows townhomes on East G Avenue in Richland Township at 5:42 p.m. Saturday, later identified Dalton in a police lineup as the man who shot her.
The detectives' testimony Monday shed no light on why Dalton, who did not have a criminal history, allegedly went on the shooting rampage and Dalton provided no clues when he was in court. Getting also said Monday that investigators do not know Dalton's motive.
After the shooting in Richland Township, the next round of gunfire came after 10 p.m. when police say Dalton shot and killed 17-year-old Tyler Smith, of Mattawan, and Tyler's father, Rich Smith, 53. A little more than 15 minutes later, police say, Dalton shot and killed Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda, and Dorothy Brown, 74; Barbara Hawthorne, 68, and Mary Jo Nye, 60 in the Cracker Barrel parking lot.
Abigail Kopf, 14, was also wounded in the shooting at the Cracker Barrel. She was listed in critical condition at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo following the shooting. On Monday, Abigail's parents, Gene and Vicki, said their daughter is "fighting for her life."
