Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller says the actions of the first shooting victim during the weekend rampage in western Michigan protected several children.
Fuller told The Associated Press on Monday the woman was outside with three or four children Saturday at an apartment complex’s playground. When a man approached them in a car and she sensed trouble, Fuller said she put herself between the car and the children and told them to run to their nearby home.
READ MORE: Kalamazoo suspect picked up Uber customers during shooting rampage
Authorities say the woman was shot multiple times and severely injured. Fuller says she has had surgeries and is improving but has a long road to recovery.
A prosecutor filed six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder against Jason Dalton, 45, of Kalamazoo Township in the series of shootings.
WATCH: Uber driver accused of killing 6 arraigned in Michigan, denied bail. Kenneth Craig has the latest.
Get daily National news
The victims in the Saturday night shootings had no apparent connection to the gunman or to each other.
The attacks began outside the Meadows apartment complex on the eastern edge of Kalamazoo County, where a woman was shot multiple times.
READ MORE: Uber driver in custody after 6 killed in ‘random’ shooting rampage in Kalamazoo
A little more than four hours later and 15 miles away, a father and his 18-year-old son were fatally shot while looking at cars at a car dealership.
WATCH: President Obama calls for more gun reform following Kalamazoo shootings
Fifteen minutes after that, five people were gunned down in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Four of them died.
WATCH: Police in Kalamazoo, Michigan are trying to determine what motivated a man with no criminal record to go on a shooting rampage. Mike Drolet reports.
Two people were wounded, the woman shot at the apartment complex and a 14-year-old girl hit at the restaurant.
READ MORE: Uber says suspected Kalamazoo rampage gunman was driver for service
A spokeswoman for Uber confirmed that Dalton was a driver for the company, but she declined to say whether he was driving Saturday night.
Uber prohibits both passengers and drivers from possessing guns of any kind in a vehicle. Anyone found to be in violation of the policy may be prohibited from using or driving for the service.
Comments