Ohio gunman kills 9 people, leaves 27 hurt
Rampage ends in Dayton when police gun him down
DAYTON, Ohio — A masked gunman in body armor opened fire early Sunday in a popular entertainment district in Dayton, killing nine people, including his sister, and wounding dozens before he was quickly slain by police, officials said.
It was the second U.S. mass shooting in less than 24 hours.
Connor Betts, 24, was armed with a .223-caliber rifle with magazines capable of holding at least 100 rounds of ammunition, and he squeezed off dozens of shots. Uniformed officers on routine patrol in the area responded, and Betts was gunned down no more than 30 seconds after his rampage began, Police Chief Richard Biehl said.
A shotgun was also found in Betts’ car. Both guns were purchased legally, police said.
Surveillance video shared by police showed that officers shot Betts as he was about to enter a bar where some people took cover about 1 a.m. local time in the historic Oregon District.
Had Betts gotten inside
the bar, the result would have been “catastrophic,” Biehl said.
Betts’ 22-year-old sister Megan was the youngest of the dead — all killed in a nightlife spot of bars, restaurants and theaters that is considered a safe area downtown, police said. Her male companion was also injured, but survived.
Betts and his sister arrived together in the district and met the other man, but at some point Connor Betts separated from the group.
“What they did during that time they weren’t together is a question mark,” Biehl said.
Police identified the other dead as Monica Brickhouse, 39; Nicholas Cumer, 25; Derrick Fudge, 57; Thomas McNichols, 25; Lois Oglesby, 27; Saeed Saleh, 38; Logan Turner, 30; and Beatrice N. Warren-Curtis, 36.
Mayor Nan Whaley said at least 27 more people were treated for injuries, and at least 15 of those have been released. Several more were in serious or critical condition, hospital officials said at a news conference Sunday morning. Some suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and others were injured as they fled, the officials said.
Authorities said they still had not established a motive. Biehl said they would investigate the possibility of a hate crime, but police had no evidence that racial bias had motivated Betts. Although the gunman was white and six of the nine victims were black, police said the quickness of the rampage made any discrimination in the shooting seem unlikely.
Police have found no manifesto or social media presence for Betts, and added that they are treating Betts’ family as they would any of the victims’ families, given that they have lost their daughter.
Gun owners can carry their weapons openly in Ohio, and a check of Betts’ adult criminal background showed only traffic tickets for speeding and failure to yield.
Asked whether the Dayton gunman was on the police’s radar, Biehl said: “Not at all. Not at all.”
TRUMP RESPONDS
The attack in the Oregon District occurred less than 24 hours after 20 people were shot dead at a Walmart store and in a mall in El Paso, Texas. Biehl said there was no indication of a link between the two shootings.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump tweeted praise of law enforcement in both cities
and said that “information is rapidly being accumulated in Dayton” and that “much has already [been] learned in El Paso.” The FBI is assisting with the investigation.
“Hate has no place in our country, and we’re going to take care of it,” Trump declared before boarding Air Force One for the flight back to Washington from New Jersey, where he spent the weekend.
He pledged to make a statement this morning about the shootings, and tried to assure Americans that his administration was dealing with the issue.
“We’re talking to a lot of people, and a lot of things are in the works — a lot of good things — and we have done much more than most administrations,” Trump said in New Jersey. “Really, we haven’t talked much about it, but we’ve done a lot. But perhaps more has to be done.
“This is a mental illness problem,” he added. “These are people that are very, very seriously mentally ill.”
In later tweets, Trump said he had ordered flags lowered to half-staff across the country through Thursday, and added, “God bless the people of El Paso Texas. God bless the people of Dayton, Ohio.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and both of Ohio’s U.S. senators visited the scene. DeWine, a Republican, said policymakers must now consider: “Is there anything we can do in the future to make sure something like this does not happen?”
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said that responding with thoughts and prayers wasn’t enough and that stronger gun safety laws are needed.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman said the discussion must include not just policy changes, but issues such as mental-health supports.
The shooting in Dayton comes after the area was heavily damaged by tornadoes in late May, destroying or damaging hundreds of homes and businesses in western Ohio.
“Dayton has been through a lot already this year, and I continue to be amazed by the grit and resiliency of our community,” Whaley said.
‘A NICE KID’
Betts was a familiar face at another bar southeast of Dayton in Bellbrook, a short drive from his home, where he was known as a friendly guy who sometimes came in for a beer or two.
Bartender Andy Baker said Betts was at Romer’s Bar & Grill last Monday and seemed fine. Baker said he couldn’t believe it when he saw Betts identified as the shooter.
Fellow customer Mike Kern said he sometimes played trivia at Romer’s 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.”
“I never heard him talk about violence, say a racist word, or anything like that,” Kern said.
Brad Howard said he went to school with Betts and had known him for two decades.
“The Connor Betts that I knew was a nice kid,” Howard said. “The Connor Betts that I talked to I always got along with well.”
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.
But other former high school classmates said Betts developed a “hit list” of classmates he wanted to harm in high school and was “always obsessed” with guns.
Midway through Betts’ freshman year at Bellbrook High School, the school became aware that he was toting around a list of people, including classmates, on whom he wanted to take “revenge,” said Samantha Thomas, 25, who attended Bellbrook at the same time Betts did.
“It was a list of girls and all of these really pretty vile things that he was going to do to them,” Thomas said. “All the girls were really freaked out. He got kicked out of school for it.”
David Partridge, 26, who also attended Bellbrook with Betts, said a friend of his called the Sugarcreek Township Police Department, about a mile south of Bellbrook, to alert it to the list, and that he remembers seeing officers pull Betts off a bus.
Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Local Schools confirmed that Betts graduated in 2013 but didn’t immediately release information about his records. Police declined to comment about a “hit list.”
Information for this article was contributed by Dan Sewell, John Minchillo, John Seewer, Julie Carr Smyth, Michael Balsamo and Kantele Franko of The Associated Press; by Timothy Williams and Farah Stockman of The New York Times; and by Kevin Williams, Hannah Knowles, Hannah Natanson, Peter Whoriskey, Hannah Natanson, Julie Tate, Jennifer Jenkins and Morgan Krakow of The Washington Post.