Grief in Dayton
Classmate: He had ‘hit list’ and ‘rape list’
A somber crowd gathers to honor the nine victims killed in Ohio
DAYTON, Ohio — Nineteen hours after a masked gunman opened fire on revelers enjoying summer nightlife, the blood had been scrubbed from the sidewalk and the crime-scene tape torn down as a somber crowd of hundreds stood in the same street Sunday evening to honor the nine victims killed and 27 left injured in Dayton, Ohio.
Connor Betts, 24, was armed with a .223-caliber rifle with magazines capable of holding at least 100 rounds of ammunition when he fired off dozens of shots in a popular entertainment district, Police Chief Richard Biehl said.
Betts was gunned down within 30 seconds of the start of his rampage, police said. Bullet holes remained visible in the window as people left flower bouquets in memorial in front of Ned Peppers and other bars.
Betts’ 22-year-old sister Megan was the youngest of the victims. The gunman was white, and six of the nine killed were black, police said. But police think the quickness of the rampage made discrimination in the shooting seem unlikely.
Officials said 27 people were treated for gunshots or other injuries suffered while fleeing; at least 15 have been released. Several more were in serious or critical condition.
Police said they haven’t yet established a motive, but acquaintances said that warning signs — signs of the shooter’s unusual obsession with killing and death — cropped up long ago.
“This isn’t a mystery to me,” said one middle school classmate. “I’m furious.”
The classmate said Betts once said he fantasized about tying her up and slitting her throat. The fetish was so macabre that even the shooter admitted he was scared of his thoughts, the woman recalled his saying.
“He knew it wasn’t normal,” the woman said about the decade-old conversation. “He and I talked at length about him getting help.”
The woman said she and her parents told Bellbrook police about the bizarre admission, but the woman said she felt she wasn’t taken seriously, despite Betts including her on a hit list.
A former Bellbrook High School principal confirmed that Betts was suspended for causing a lockdown by writing a hit list on a bathroom wall.
Two former high school classmates, a man and a woman, also said Betts repeatedly threatened other students and was suspended for compiling a “hit list” of those he wanted to kill and a “rape list” of girls he wanted to sexually assault.
One of the shooter’s classmates, Demoy Howell, said he and Betts participated in Bellbrook’s Junior ROTC military program. Another said Betts was one of the leads in Bellbrook’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Howell never had a problem with Betts, but remembers friends saying he made them feel threatened or uncomfortable. The rigor of the military program seemed to have a calming influence on Betts, Howell said. After the lockdown, though “he kind of fell off the face of the earth.” The two later reunited while working at a fast food restaurant.
“He was always a bit of an oddball,” said Howell. “He had a dark sense of humor — jokes about people dying. He would wear all black. I remember sensing a dark energy around him.
“I think this is less of a hate crime and more of an ‘I hate everybody’ crime,” Howell said. “I honestly feel more comfortable now knowing that he’s gone.”
Police have said there was nothing in Betts’ background to prevent him from buying the firearm he used.
Bellbrook Police Chief Doug Doherty said he and his officers weren’t aware of any history of violence by Betts, including during high school, and had no previous contact with him.
Another former classmate, Brad Howard, said he knew Betts for two decades and described him as “a nice kid.”
Betts was also a familiar face at Romer’s Bar & Grill in Bellbrook, where he was known as an everfriendly, happy guy who sometimes came in for a beer or two and never made trouble.
Bartender Andy Baker said Betts was at the bar last Monday and seemed fine. Baker said when Betts was identified as the shooter, he thought: There is no way that’s the guy.
Fellow customer Mike Kern said he sometimes played trivia with Betts, who was good for answers about current events and pop culture and was “the kind of kid you’d want as a son.”