US mass shootings
Shock – and outrage – as 31 killed in less than a day
THIRTY SECONDS, A HAIL OF bullets and nine people dead. Less than 15 hours earlier, 22 people were gunned down in a shopping centre. The bloody back-to-back attacks have left a country, now sadly accustomed to mass shootings, reeling. In the latest shooting, Connor Stephen Betts, 24, opened fire in a busy nightlife strip in Dayton, Ohio on August 4, slaying eight people, including his sister, Megan, 22, before he was fatally shot by police.
The previous day, alleged gunman Patrick Wood Crusius, 21, killed 20 people and injured more than two dozen others in a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas before surrendering to police. Crusius, now being treated as a “domestic terrorist”, is facing the
death penalty, with a local prosecutor saying he has “lost the right to be among us”.
In the lead-up to the carnage in downtown Dayton, it’s understood Connor, his sister Megan and a mutual acquaintance drove to the popular Oregon district. Connor then slipped away from the other two and grabbed his AR-15 style rifle which, according to police, had two drum magazines that had 100 rounds of ammunition combined. Dressed in a ballistic vest, a mask and earmuffs, Connor shot his first victim shortly after 1am near a tattoo parlour.
Connor crossed a street, firing into the panicked crowd and sending revellers running for safety. In just 30 seconds, he fired 41 shots, killing eight people and injuring 27, then he moved towards the entrance of Ned Peppers Bar, where he was killed by police. “Had this individual made it through the doorway of Ned Peppers, there would have been catastrophic injury and loss of life,” Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said. Megan Betts was among the dead, while her unnamed companion was wounded in the night of bloodshed. The other eight deceased victims were Lois Oglesby, 27; Saeed Saleh, 38; Derrick Fudge, 57; Logan Turner, 30; Nicholas Cumer, 25; Thomas McNichols, 25; Beatrice Warren-Curtis, 36; and Monica Brickhouse, 39.
Disturbing details about the Dayton gunman have emerged, with former high school classmates claiming Connor was suspended for creating a “hit list” of those he wanted to “kill” or “rape”.
In El Paso, a city with a high Hispanic population, one of the victims, mother of three Jordan Anchondo, 25, was killed while protecting her infant son. She had been shopping for school supplies at Walmart when she was gunned down. Jordan’s husband Andre Anchondo was also killed during the massacre at the shopping centre.
The killer, Crusius, was described as a “troubled youth”. Authorities are treating a racist rant online, allegedly written by the gunman, as evidence. In the document, he allegedly denounced Hispanic people and the text includes a references to the Christchurch mosque mass shootings on March 15.
The El Paso shooting is the eighth deadliest in modern US history. Seven of the 10 deadliest mass shootings have occurred within the last decade. In the wake of the latest mass shootings, hundreds of protesters gathered in Washington DC, calling for gun laws to change.
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, President Donald Trump blamed “mental illness” for the shootings in El Paso and Dayton. He did concede that “perhaps” more had to be done on the issue of gun control. “Hate has no place in our country and we’re going to take care of it,” Trump said.