Jason Brian Dalton told police that when he would open the app, a symbol and a “devil head” appeared that would “would literally take over your whole body,” Detective William Moorian of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said.
The 45-year-old went on a shooting rampage on February 20, killing six people and injuring two others. He was arrested two days later.
Dalton confessed to fatally shooting Tyler Smith, 17, and his father, Rich Smith, 53, in a parking lot that evening. He also admitted to being at the scene of a shooting less than a half an hour later, at a Cracker Barrel restaurant a few miles away, where Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda; Dorothy Brown, 74; Barbara Hawthorne, 68, and Mary Jo Nye, 60, all of Battle Creek, were killed and 14-year-old Abigail Kopf was injured.
He is also accused of shooting Tiana Carruthers, 25, multiple times earlier in the evening.
“I asked Dalton what was going through his mind tonight at Don Seelye Ford and he said he didn’t want to say,” Moorian wrote in his report. “I informed Dalton that the entire incident is on video at Don Seelye. Dalton said that if we only knew, it would blow our mind.”
“Dalton then explains how when he opens up the Uber taxi app a symbol appeared and he recognized that symbol as the Eastern Star symbol. Dalton acknowledged that he recognized the Uber symbol as being that of the Eastern Star and a devil head popped up on his screen and when he pressed the button on the app, that is when all the problems started.”
The police report was obtained by the Kalamazoo Gazette and MLive.com via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
“Dalton was asked if he recalled shooting some people tonight and he said he did recall that, but other than that, he doesn’t remember anything,” Moorian wrote. “Dalton said that it starts out that you have to follow the navigation, but it gets to the point where you don’t have to drive at all, the car just goes… Dalton said he was seeing himself from outside of his body.”
Dalton is currently facing six charges of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder, and eight counts of felony firearm use.
“Dalton said that he understands now how the other mass shootings take place,” the detective wrote. “Dalton explained how he has experienced a full body takeover, that is how he can understand the other mass shootings.”
A competency examination at the state's Center for Forensic Psychiatry is underway to determine whether Dalton is fit to stand trial. A written report from the agency is set to be handed over to the judge on May 2.
