Trial Commissioner James Thorpe granted public defender Everett A. Gillison's request yesterday for a delay in the hearing so that a court psychiatrist can determine whether Dooley is competent to face charges of attempted murder, aggravated and simple assault, reckless endangerment, and weapons offenses.
The trial commissioner will review the psychiatrist's findings on Tuesday.
Dooley "has had psychiatric issues in his past," Gillison said after yesterday's hearing. "He has suffered a couple mental breakdowns, but I still don't have the full information."
Gillison said he has asked Dooley's family for background information about the defendant's mental history.
Assistant District Attorney Edward McCann, who is prosecuting Dooley, said that if the court psychiatrist determines the defendant is competent, the preliminary hearing would be scheduled later this month.
If Dooley is deemed incompetent, McCann said, the case will go before a judge, and additional psychiatrists may examine Dooley to determine when, and if, he is competent, the prosecutor said.
The accused gunman is being held after failing to post $8 million bail.
The rampage started with the shooting of two employees at a Juniata Park business. Randy Salvati, 25, was hit in the head and pelvis; Joseph Connell, 30, was struck in the right side. Dooley had gone to Bush Distributors Inc. to talk about a job as a truck driver but was not immediately hired.
After allegedly shooting Salvati and Connell, Dooley got into his car and drove 20 blocks west to a coin-operated laundry in Nicetown, where police said he shot a patron, Dean Lockhart, 40, with a .45-caliber pistol. Lockhart was shot in the arms and stomach.
His final victim, Nichole Gaskins, 21, a cashier, was shot outside her home in Germantown with a 9mm pistol. The bullets damaged her spine near the base of her neck, her family said.
Gaskins' condition was upgraded from critical to fair on Thursday, an Albert Einstein Medical Center spokeswoman said yesterday. Gaskins underwent surgery yesterday, her family said.
"As far as her diagnosis, the doctors are not 100 percent sure," said Gaskins' mother, Regina. "She is in surgery right now. She is in intensive care."
The family said that Nichole Gaskins has no health insurance and appealed for help paying her medical bills. Donations can be sent to the Nichole Gaskins Fund, Box 18839, Philadelphia 19119.
The other victims have been released from hospitals.
Dooley has a criminal record that includes arrests on drug and auto-theft charges. At the time of the shootings, there were two warrants for his arrest on drug-possession charges, police said. Charges in another drug case and the auto-theft case were dismissed.
Linda Loyd's e-mail address is lloyd@phillynews.com
