No immediate clues about Dayton shooter’s motive

The gunman who killed nine people, including his sister, early Sunday morning in Dayton, Ohio, had a mask, body armor, hearing protection and a high-capacity magazine capable of holding 100 rounds, Dayton police said.

Connor Betts, 24, used what police described as an “assaultstyle rifle” when he opened fire in a busy entertainment district. A shotgun was also found in his car. Both guns were purchased legally, police said.

Authorities said they still have not established a motive for the shooting, but that Betts arrived in the entertainment district with his sister, Megan Betts, 22, and another “companion.” Megan Betts was not the first person killed in the assault, and it remained unclear whether Connor Betts had sought to kill her, the police said. The companion was wounded and police have spoken to him.

“We do not have that answer at this time,” said Richard Biehl, Dayton’s police chief, about a motive for the attack. Biehl, who said officers killed Betts within 30 seconds of his opening fire, added there was no evidence that racial bias had motivated the shooter.

Early Sunday morning, police searched a house in Bellbrook, a suburb southeast of Dayton, where Connor Betts lived with his parents.

Neighborhood resident Nikki Peralli, 25, remembered the suspected gunman only as “tall, skinny and brown-haired.”

Brad Howard said he had known Betts since before kindergarten and rode the bus with him to school for years, talking about rock bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He described his former classmate as soft-spoken. “The Connor Betts that I knew was a nice kid,” he said. He had not talked with Betts for months, he said.

Betts, who had been working at a Chipotle restaurant, recently studied psychology at Sinclair Community College in Dayton. In an online profile, he reportedly described himself as “Good under pressure. Fast learner. Eager to overachieve.”