Terror by night book summary driver#

Dazed, Mellen told them what had happened. Kacey Black was having a cigarette with her husband outside their house on the corner of Iroquois Trail, enjoying the fine weather, when, amid the loud screeching of DaltonвЂ™s braking and acceleration, they saw Mellen tumble out of DaltonвЂ™s car. вЂњThe worst ride IвЂ™ve ever had in my life, thatвЂ™s for sure.вЂќ вЂњAnd he was, вЂWell, donвЂ™t you need a ride to your friendвЂ™s house?вЂ™ I was, вЂNot anymore! Let me out! Let me out!вЂ™ And he refused to let me out.вЂќД«y then, theyвЂ™d passed the correct turn, so Mellen started indicating other houses, saying thatвЂ™s where he had to go: вЂњPointing out random houses so he would slow down.вЂќ Finally, halfway down a quiet stretch of Iroquois Trail, Dalton slammed on the brakes and asked again where MellenвЂ™s friend lived Mellen took advantage of the moment to leap out. вЂњI was, вЂPlease just let me out! Please just let me out!вЂ™ вЂќ says Mellen. And yet the whole time, Dalton showed no outward signs that anything unusual was happening. In the back, Mia got down on the floor and hid. He shot through some more lights and repeatedly swerved onto the wrong side of the road. вЂњAnd then I was just, like, pleading for him to stop the vehicle so I could get out.вЂќД«ut Dalton wouldnвЂ™t stop.

вЂњI didnвЂ™t hit anything,вЂќ Dalton replied, with eerie calm, and accelerated onward. вЂњDude, you hit that car!вЂќ Mellen shouted at him. But, as he did so, he reacted as though nothing had happened. He sped into an oncoming-traffic lane, blew through a stop sign, and violently sideswiped a Ford Taurus. Whatever the real trigger, DaltonвЂ™s behavior became unhinged. What might have seemed like a crucial moment was actually a brief, banal call from his teenage son about a chicken dinner. Then-the call that came during MellenвЂ™s journey-Carole had asked their son to call back to check whether Dalton wanted them to pick up some food for him. their son had answered (he was playing games on the phone when his father called) and they chatted about his driversвЂ™-ed class. Dalton had called a little earlier as she and their children were sitting down to eat at Wings Etc. And as it turned out, the call did indeed come from her phone-but it wasnвЂ™t Carole on the line, it was their son. For a while, the popular assumption was that the caller must have been his wife: Their relationship mustвЂ™ve been failing, and an incendiary moment must have enraged him. Later, there would be much speculation about this phone call, the call that seemed to set Dalton off. вЂњHe hung up,вЂќ said Mellen, вЂњand he floored it. That was when the universe abruptly shifted. He was using Bluetooth, so Mellen could hear the call, though he wasnвЂ™t really paying attention and wasnвЂ™t even quite sure if the voice he heard was male or female, adult or child.

Terror by night book summary driver#

And the person doing the shooting would turn out to be an Uber driver named Jason Dalton.ДЄfter theyвЂ™d driven a short while, Dalton received a phone call. Except that on this day, for reasons that Jason Dalton would later struggle to explain, Kalamazoo would be terrorized by a man driving around town and shooting people, apparently at random. It looked like another ordinary day in the life of an ordinary man in an ordinary part of America. The plan was to take his family to Disney World. The Daltons were doing fine, but he liked the idea of making some extra money. Dalton was an insurance loss adjuster in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but less than two weeks earlier he had also started doing some driving for Uber in his off time.

Afterward, he told Brian he might take a nap, then go to work. While his wife of 20 years went out with their 15-year-old son and their 10-year-old daughter, Dalton, 45, took their German shepherd, Mia, for a walk, then ran errands for a couple of hours with a friend, Brian. JASON DALTON began this particular Saturday-February 20, 2016-by doing nothing at all unusual.