Suspect Charged With 6 Counts Murder In Random Shootings Denied Bail

Members of the community pray before the start of the Kalamazoo Community Prayer Service at Centerpoint Church on in Kalamazoo, Mich., Sunday, Feb 21, 2016. A gunman who seemed to choose his victims at random opened ... Members of the community pray before the start of the Kalamazoo Community Prayer Service at Centerpoint Church on in Kalamazoo, Mich., Sunday, Feb 21, 2016. A gunman who seemed to choose his victims at random opened fire Saturday outside an apartment complex, a car dealership and a restaurant in Michigan, killing six people in a rampage that lasted nearly seven hours, police said. (Andraya Croft/Detroit Free Press via AP) MORE LESS

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A man charged with six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in a series of random shootings in western Michigan has been denied bail.

Forty-five-year-old Jason Dalton of Kalamazoo Township made his first court appearance Monday and indicated that he understood the charges.

The charges filed Monday by Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting 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.

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