Ex-Uber driver pleads guilty to killings

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A Michigan man charged with killing six strangers between picking up rides for Uber pleaded guilty to murder on Monday, just before attorneys were set to interview jurors for his trial.

Jason Dalton’s surprise move came more than three years after the shootings, which occurred over the course of a few hours in and around Kalamazoo. Dalton pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder over his attorney’s objections, triggering a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole.

“Yes, I’ve wanted this for quite a while,” Dalton replied when a judge asked whether the pleas were voluntary.

The 48-year-old Dalton answered “yes” to a series of questions, admitting that he shot eight people at three locations. After his arrest, police quoted Dalton as saying a “devil figure” on Uber’s app was controlling him on the day of the shootings.

Four women were killed in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant. A man and his 17-year-old son were fatally shot while looking at a pickup in a dealer’s lot. A girl who was 14 at the time was shot in the head during the restaurant shooting and survived. Another woman was injured in a residential area.

Dalton had been deemed competent to stand trial and last week dropped an insanity defense. In court, he didn’t explain why he randomly shot eight people.

Prosecutor Jeff Getting said the motive behind the shootings is a question that “haunts us.”

AP/KEITH SRAKOCIC A protester with a bolt-action rifle strapped around his back attends a rally Monday in downtown Pittsburgh. The protesters, many openly carrying guns, gathered to rally against the city council’s proposed restrictions and banning of semi-automatic rifles, certain ammunition and firearms accessories within city limits.