In new clues as to what may have motivated Kalamazoo, Michigan gunman, Jason Brian Dalton, going on his indiscriminate shooting spree on Saturday, February 20, which led to the deaths of six and the serious injuring of three, Uber passenger Matt Mellen, 30 has recounted his harrowing episode.
In an interview with WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo, Mellen has told of the moment Dalton’s behavior and driving changing after taking what appeared to be an upsetting phone call.
Recalling the moment he was initially picked up at 4.30 p.m, an hour and a half before the first round of shooting (one of there rounds that evening) Matt Mellen recalls Dalton introducing himself as ‘Me-Me’ and that he sat in front, since Dalton had his dog in the backseat.
Mellen said about a mile into the trip, Dalton got a phone call and that when he hung up, he began driving erratically, driving through stop signs and sideswiping cars.
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Told Mellen via WWMT: He introduced himself with a different name than what Jason was that comes up for Uber,’
Reiterated Mellen who works at a local brewery: ‘We were driving through medians, driving through the lawn, speeding along and when we came to a stop, I jumped out the car and ran away.’
‘He wouldn’t stop. He just kind of kept looking at me like — ‘don’t you want to get to your friend’s house’ and I’m like I want to get there alive.’
Once he got to his friend’s house, he told his fiancée what happened, who in turn posted a warning to friends on Facebook.
Added Mellen: ‘We posted the picture on Facebook just so our friends wouldn’t get in the car with him if they had to take an Uber that night.’
Of particular note, the day of the shooting according to a private facebook page belonging to Dalton, February 20th represented the suspect’s 14th wedding anniversary, with Dalton becoming jaded and unrelenting according to one witness after having received what appeared to Mellen to be a disarming phonecall. From whom the call came from and what was said and how that may have led to Dalton deciding to go through with his dastardly plan has yet to be resolved…
Uber driver Jason Dalton’s last rider posted about his behavior just prior to deadly rampage. #KalamazooShooting pic.twitter.com/jByBa7JU4B
— Robb Ware (@robbware) February 21, 2016
