BREAKING: Judge Dismisses Uber Lawsuit Filed in Accused Killer's Name

Updated at 1:32 pm.

KALAMAZOO, MI – A judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit filed in the name of Uber driver Jason Dalton, who is accused in the shooting eight people, six of them fatally, in a series of random shootings on Feb. 20.

WZZM-TV’s John Hogan tweeted Tuesday that the judge said the lawsuit was a hoax, the same conclusion Kalamazoo sheriff’s authorities reached hours after viral media coverage of a court petition filed in U.S. District Court that asked for $10 million in damages from Uber.

“To let you know, the Dalton lawsuit was a hoax,” Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas said in a statement in March. “I was suspicious last night when I saw the envelope the lawsuit came in was postmarked Philadelphia. We investigated and Dalton did not send it, did not authorize it and does not know who sent it. Further it was not his handwriting and it is not a jail envelope.”

Earlier on Patch

• Alleged Killer’s Lawsuit Against Uber a ‘Hoax,’ Sheriff Says

In a statement after the phony lawsuit was filed, U.S. District Court spokesman Rod Hansen said all lawsuit filings are entered electronically into the system upon receipt.

"The procedure is to receive it, put it into the system, get a magistrate judge, district court judge, and docket the case,” Hanson said. “At some point in the future the subpoenas would be delivered. At this point in the process we would be able to determine if it was fake.”

In other developments,a psychiatrist determined that Dalton, 45, is competent to stand trial, but the report did not assess his state of mind at the time of the alleged crime.

Dalton, a former insurance adjuster with a clean criminal record, reportedly picked up fares between the shootings that rocked the security of the western Michigan town on Feb. 20. He has been charged with six counts of open murder and two counts of felony firearm.