An Uber driver who went on a shooting spree that killed six people in the Midwestern US state of Michigan pleaded guilty to all charges Monday.
In a surprise turn as the trial was scheduled to begin, Jason Dalton pleaded guilty to embarking on a deadly February 2016 shooting spree in the small city of Kalamazoo, in between driving for customers of the ride-sharing service Uber.
Dalton was charged with six counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and eight firearms charges. He faces a mandatory life sentence without parole.
Prosecutors said no deal was offered for the guilty plea.
Dalton reportedly had told police that he was made a “puppet” by the Uber application, which directed him to shoot people at random over the course of several hours.
His victims were a 25-year-old mother wounded while shielding a group of children from bullets, a father and son fatally shot at a car dealership and four senior citizens killed in a restaurant parking lot where a teen was also wounded.
NBC television affiliate WOOD reported that Dalton chose to plead guilty to spare his family and victims’ families the ordeal of a trial. (AFP)
