BATTLE CREEK (WKZO-AM) — It was two months ago when 45-year-old Jason Dalton allegedly went on a shooting rampage that killed six and wounded a 25-year-old mother and 14-year-old Abigail Kopf.
In fact, doctors at one point during that night pronounced Kopf dead. But moments later, she gripped her mother’s hand.
On Wednesday, the teenager returned home, adding another chapter to her surprising recovery. She was loudly applauded as she left the the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids.
“I love it,” Kopf said. “I’m with my family.”
She has not fully recovered and will continue her therapy on an outpatient basis for the next several years. She still has a feeding tube and requires more surgery, but her mother, Vickie Kopf, said Abigail’s strong will has pushed her this far.
On Friday, we will find out if Dalton will be headed to jail or back to a hospital for treatment.
A Michigan State Police source confirmed that psychiatrists at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Ypsilanti say Dalton is competent to stand trial. Dalton’s been in Ypsilanti since last month undergoing examinations.
Dalton claimed during police interviews that he was taken over by a demon in his Uber app on the night he committed the shootings. He said he was in an altered state and barely remembered shooting anyone.
That’s one reason why the tests were ordered.
But Dalton admitted he returned to normal after a Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s deputy pulled him over on Kalamazoo’s north side.
A formal competency hearing is scheduled in Kalamazoo County District Court early Friday.
