Uber: 'No background check would have identified this man as a problem'

There obviously has to be some explanation, but as of now the most likely theories don't seem to be getting anywhere in explaining why Jason Dalton suddenly and randomly murdered six people in Kalamazoo last Saturday. In addition to having neither a criminal record nor a history of mental health problems, early speculation of financial and marital problems appear to have been baseless. All we've got is his wife having told him a couple days before the shooting that he seemed uncharacteristically down and depressed. It appears she didn't know why. As of now, neither do any of us:

Vlachos also revealed new details about Dalton's behavior in the days leading up to the shooting rampage, saying he was told by Dalton's wife, Carol, "he's been acting differently in the last couple of days and his wife asked him and he said he was tired." When asked by ABC News' Alex Perez about what made Dalton's wife think he was acting differently, Vlachos said, "just his demeanor, that he seemed to be depressed and down, which was not his normal character. Vlachos said that ahead of the shootings on Saturday, Carol was out running errands with the couple's children, a 10-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son. Dalton spent the day with a friend, visiting a gun store before picking up Uber passengers. At some point after the shootings began, Vlachos said Dalton called Carol and asked her and the kids to meet him at his parent's home. When they got there, he told them that the Chevy Equinox that he was driving for Uber had been side-swiped by another vehicle and took his parent's Chevy HHR to continue picking up passengers. Before Dalton left, he told his family to stay put at his parent's house, according to Vlachos. Later, once authorities had arrested him, they came to Jason's parent's house, having found their address on their car's vehicle registration.

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According to Vlachos, Jason had started driving for Uber within the last two weeks, often spending many of his evenings picking up fares. He was also employed as an insurance adjuster. "Jason by all accounts was a fairly gregarious character. A good father. Well-known in the community. Well-liked. There was nothing to indicate that something like this would occur," Vlachos said. He denied reports that the family was experiencing financial troubles and said that the couple was not estranged at the time of Dalton's arrest, as other outlets have stated.

I suppose the logical conclusion here is fairly terrifying, since it really means you can never be sure, anywhere, with anyone, that an insane shooting rampage isn't just moments away. Sure, there were some signs that something was wrong, but unless you're going to run and hide from everyone who seems down for a couple of days, you have to acknowledge that there's really no way to know with certainty that anyone isn't capable of this. A few points on that: First, it certainly makes it hard to put much stock in the theory that government can protect us by denying guns to people who don't pass background checks. As Uber observed in response to those who claimed Dalton wasn't "vetted" sufficiently, there is no background check anywhere that would have identified Dalton as a problem. Nothing in his background - not even anything his wife could identify - would have provided a warning for what he was about to do. So when Obama said the other day that we need to "do more" to keep guns away from "a person like this," I say again: A person like what? The only way you could have prevented Dalton from buying a gun would be if you banned guns entirely. That's obviously what liberals want, and Dalton may become the example they use to justify that position, but up to now they haven't openly admitted this is their real goal. The fact of the matter is that the only thing that could have stopped Jason Dalton is another person with a gun and the knowledge of how to use it. I don't like the idea one bit considering he has a wife and two children, 15 and 10, but he basically abandoned them the moment he decided to go on his rampage. It was just a matter of whether they'd be separated from him by prison or by death. Now, a second point: It seems hopeless to think there's no way you can really be safe in society, but the one thing you can do is ask God to keep you safe. And by the way - I'm sure Right Wing Watch will jump all over this - the only way to explain Dalton's sudden change from well-liked, gregarious guy to mass murder is that one way or another he came under demonic influence. How that happened I have no idea. I could only speculate. But any person who willingly steps outside God's will for their life can make himself vulnerable to spiritual oppression, and it can sometimes happen with lightning speed. So for both ends of the equation, trusting God is really the only thing any of us have got. Someone had better let Brian Tashman know I said so.