Über App: Paranoia, Or Merely The Soul-Crushing Future Of The "Gig Economy"?

Kalamazoo shootings suspect told police Uber app controlled him 'like
artificial intelligence'

Over Time, or Organisation Todt?

Jason Dalton had his family dog in the car with him when he allegedly began his shooting rampage. Dalton apparently was working as an Uber driver and taking fares during his shooting spree. He blames the Uber app he was using for the violence, telling police after he was arrested Feb. 20 that the app took him over "like artificial intelligence that can tap into you body," according to a police document.

Six people were killed and another two were wounded when the shooter was finished. For all the bloodshed, he was eerily passive during his arrest. The arresting officer said Dalton was slow to respond to instructions. Video of the arrest shows the officer pull a pistol from the suspect's right pocket. When he asked if the gun was registered in his name, "Dalton did not respond to my questioning and continued staring blankly ahead the whole time while walking him to the patrol vehicle."

An arresting officer also said a small, "ripped" piece of cardboard which "appears to be a card associated with a shooting range" was found during a pat down of Dalton. The officer also said Dalton was wearing a bullet proof vest.

It was later, according to documents, when Dalton told investigators his phone was controlling him at the time of the shootings. However, he told investigators he had trouble remembering the shootings.

According to the arresting officer's report (view here), Dalton said when he logged onto the Uber app it "started making him be like a puppet." He told police he would have tried to have a "shootout with police, when the log in went from the black symbol back to the red, that's when Dalton stopped his thought."

"Dalton explained to us that when the app changed from red to black that is when he started having problems."

About 7 hours before Dalton's arrest, a man in a Chevrolet Equinox confronted Tiana Carrouthers, who was the first victim, at an apartment complex. Reports released Monday revealed 10 shell casings were found at the scene. Five casings were found in the Equinox that Dalton was driving, suggesting the gunman emptied his extended magazine at her and the four children she was with. She was trying to protect them even as she lying down wounded.

Dalton left his wife in a dark colored Chevrolet HHR, which was identified in a final shooting 3 hours later at a Cracker Barrel, where four people were killed.

Dalton told police he has no memory of the shootings at the car dealership where a father and son were killed. However, he said he "never even aimed" when he shot the people at the Cracker Barrel. He didn't remember feeling the gun, but he recalls hearing the pop, pop, pop. He told investigators he is not a killer, but he knows he killed.

Dalton, 45, is charged with murder and attempted murder for the attacks.

Links, 911 call audio, dashcam video at ClickOnDetroit, whence we stole all the text for you not yet post-literate types.