Judge denies bail for Kalamazoo shooting suspect

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WJBK) - Jason Dalton, the man charged with murdering six people in a shooting spree in the western Michigan city of Kalamazoo, say still and quietly listened as a judge read off to him the charges he now faces.

Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting announced Dalton faces 16 charges, including six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in the series of random shootings. The charges also include weapons violations. The murder charges carry a mandatory life sentence.

Dalton was arrested Sunday in Kalamazoo. Police say the rampage began about 6 p.m. Saturday outside an apartment complex, where a woman was seriously wounded. A little more than four hours later, a father and son were fatally shot while looking at vehicles at a car dealership. Fifteen minutes after that, five people were shot in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant.

At Dalton's arraignment, a judge asked him if there was anything he wished to say.

"I would prefer just to remain silent," Dalton responded. Earlier, he had indicated that he understood the charges. 

The judge denied bail at this time and set up Dalton's pre-exam conference for March 10.

Earlier, a federal agent said many long guns and handguns were seized from Dalton's home.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting state and local police. A spokesman in Detroit, Donald Dawkins, says there's no indication that Jason Dalton was prohibited from possessing guns.