The Uber driver who allegedly gunned down six people in Kalamazoo, Mich. had picked up more than a dozen customers since he started working for the ride-sharing company, a law enforcement official told TIME on Monday.
Jason Dalton, 45, had 14 confirmed fares since he started working as an Uber driver a couple days ago, according to Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley. Uber, which has declined to detail Dalton’s work history, directed all questions Monday to law enforcement officials.
The company said in a statement Sunday that it was “horrified and heartbroken at the senseless violence” and offered to aid police. Hadley said the 14-fare figure came from Uber, which he said has been helpful in the investigation.
Dalton is accused of shooting eight people during an attack that started outside an apartment complex and continued at a car dealership and a Cracker Barrel restaurant lot, authorities said. He may have picked up at least one Uber fare in between the shootings, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting told the Associated Press.
He “petrified” at least one customer about two hours before the first victim was shot when he drove erratically for about three miles, according to the passenger, Matt Mellen. The 30-year-old recalled the terrifying six-minute ride on Monday, saying he feared for his life and thought the car would smash into a house. “I was just preparing myself for impact. I thought I was going to get in a head-on collision or hit a house,” he told TIME. “I just did everything I thought I could at the time just to get out of that situation.”
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