Competency hearing ordered for alleged Kalamazoo killer of 6

KALAMAZOO, Mich., March 3 (UPI) -- A Kalamazoo, Mich., prosecutor on Thursday said a man accused of a series of apparently random shootings, killing six people, will undergo a mental competency hearing.

Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said Jason Dalton will be evaluated within 60 days to learn if he is competent to stand trial, at the request of Dalton's lawyer. A preliminary court hearing will be delayed from March 10 to mid-May. Getting offered no motive for the shootings.

Dalton, 45, is charged with six counts of open murder, two counts of intent to murder and eight counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony. He was arrested Feb. 20 after he allegedly shot eight people at three locations in Kalamazoo County in one evening while working as an Uber driver.

The first victim, shot in an apartment parking lot, was injured and remains hospitalized. Two men, a father and son, were later shot and killed in a car dealer's lot. Five more were shot, four fatally, in a restaurant parking lot. One, Allison Kopf, 14, is recovering from a bullet to the head.

Dalton faces a life sentence, without parole, if convicted of all charges.