KALAMAZOO, Mich. — FOX 17 used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain hundreds of documents that shed light on the investigation into accused Kalamazoo mass shooter Jason Dalton. The documents reveal what Dalton's wife Carole had to say to police after the Feb. 20 shooting rampage that left six people dead and two others injured.
Carole Dalton not only talked on the phone to her husband throughout the day but met with him before his shooting spree, according to the documents.
Investigators said Dalton went on the rampage between driving fares for Uber. Prior to the shootings, he was allegedly got into an accident while driving around town erratically. He hid his car in his parent’s garage and asked his wife to meet him with the keys to a different car they owned. He told Carole Dalton a cab driver had deliberately sideswiped his car and shot at him because the cab driver was mad at Uber drivers for taking fares.
Documents show Carole not only asked if he was drunk but was alarmed to see a gun in his pocket. The documents say Dalton told his wife that it was not safe for her and the kids to go home, because the taxi drivers might know where they live. He said that she and the kids should not leave the house or go to school or work the following Monday. At that, he loaded a gun and put it in her waistband.
Carole Dalton again asked him what was going on, she said, and where all this was coming from. But all he said was, “My name won’t be in the news, but you’ll know it’s me.”
Authorities asked Carole Dalton if the date Feb. 20 had any significance or if there was anything that could have set Dalton off. She said the only thing she could think of was the arrest last year of a high school friend of his. She claimed there were no problems with their marriage or at his workplace. She said he took the job with Uber to pay for a vacation to Disney for their family.
In a follow-up interview with Carole, authorities asked about a cat Dalton had told them about that he claimed he had choked and killed and left it on their bed. Carole said they once had a cat that died years ago that she believed had died in its sleep.
