Shooter kept ‘hit, rape list’

High school classmates of the gunman who killed nine people and injured 27 on Sunday in Dayton, Ohio, say he was suspended for compiling a “hit list” of those he wanted to kill and a “rape list” of girls he wanted to sexually assault.

The accounts by two former classmates emerged after police said there was nothing in the background of 24-year-old Connor Betts that would have prevented him from purchasing the .223-caliber rifle with extended ammunition magazines that he used to open fire outside a crowded bar. Police on patrol in the entertainment district fatally shot him less than a minute later.

Both former classmates told The Associated Press that Betts was suspended during their junior year at suburban Bellbrook High School after a hit list was found scrawled in a school bathroom. That followed an earlier suspension after Betts came to school with a list of female students he wanted to sexually assault, according to the two classmates, a man and a woman who are both now 24 and spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern they might face harassment.

According to officials, one of the victims was the gunman’s 22-yearold sister, Megan. According to Dayton Police, Betts, who was wearing body armour, used a.223 calibre assault weapon with high capacity magazines.

He unleashed a volley of bullets at his victims in the Oregon district of Dayton, an area popular with revellers, housing bars restaurants and theatres.

Authorities have yet to establish a motive for the rampage which took place outside Ned Peppers bar.