• One vigil calm, another not
DAYTON — As the sun beat down on Levitt Pavilion, mourners and supporters gathered at the amphitheater in downtown Dayton for prayer and reassurance during the first of two Sunday vigils to honor the nine lives lost in the city’s mass shooting.
A woman handed out breath mints, water bottles, a single white rose and a pack of tissues to anyone who needed them.
Many did.
They were there to mourn those killed early Sunday morning outside a popular Dayton bar. One of victims was the sister of suspected shooter Connor Stephen Betts, 24, of Bellbrook, southeast of Dayton.
Pastor Joel Burton with Simple Street Ministries directed the informal gathering, as dozens more filed in and around the concert venue, and started off with a simple message before leading the crowd in prayer.
“Love overcomes!” he declared. “Love unites; it doesn’t diversify, it unites!”
Everyone bowed their heads in a moment of silence, both young and old. For residents still reeling from 14 tornadoes in late May, just days after a KKK rally that had the community on edge, bowing their heads together has become commonplace lately.
But later Sunday evening, another Dayton gathering to remember those who died wasn’t quite as peaceful.
A huge crowd that one Dayton Fire Department official estimated at 1,000 people gathered in Dayton’s Oregon District, where Sunday morning’s gunfire erupted, to again bow their heads and consider the loss. They lit candles and sang “Amazing Grace” together.
But as Gov. Mike Dewine took the stage to address the crowd, the mood changed.
“Do something! Do something!” the crowd shouted at Dewine, drowning out his words of condolence to the Dayton community.
The governor continued his tribute to the nine who died and the dozens who were injured. But it was tough to make out what Dewine was saying.
At the beginning of the evening vigil in Dayton, 10 doves were released into the skies — nine for those killed and one to represent those injured, officials said.
There also was a candlelight vigil Sunday evening at the Statehouse in Downtown Columbus to remember those who died in both the Dayton shooting and the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, the day before the Ohio shooting.
At the daytime Dayton vigil on Sunday, Isiah Parker, 13, held up a sign at the back of the crowd that encouraged people to “Please Pray 4 Our City Dayton Strong.”
“I just wanted to show support and let people who lost someone, who feel sad and depressed, to know that I’m here for them,” he said.
Pastor Burton welcomed anyone who wanted to speak to come to the stage.
One speaker implored the crowd to ask God for his help.
“Everybody open your mouths and cry out to God,” she said. “We need you!”
The prayer vigil came after a shocking 24 hours when the country was rocked by the two mass shootings. As people prayed, politicians and police held a news conference to read the names of the nine victims in Dayton, along with the shooter’s name.
And at the same time the names rang out, Dayton firefighters, wearing white protective suits, were spraying water to remove pools of blood from the pavement in the Oregon District.
Police officers began taking down scene tape around the bars and restaurants. They picked up numbered cones that marked the location of evidence found at the scene.
Behind Ned Peppers Bar, they picked up a large pile of shoes, purses, bags and baseball caps left at the shooting scene as people fled.
“This, and then El Paso at a freakin’ Walmart, and someone’s gotta tell the police how much we love them,” said Cathy Moucke, 48, of Kettering. “I mean, we need them because this is at a freaking Walmart and then, look over there, they are cleaning up blood.”
A few dozen people attending a food truck festival just outside the Oregon District had to duck under police tape or find other places to park.
“We thought about not coming, and we might not have if we knew it was going to be this,” said Mark Green, 31, of Dayton, as he stood near the Twisted Taco food buggy. “It’s just senseless. It’s hard to make any sense of it.”
Carol Segar, 62, lived in the Oregon District for more than 20 years. She used to go dancing at Ned Peppers Bar and grab drinks with her friends after work.
Segar lives in a condo downtown now, but she felt compelled to walk to the corner of 5th and Jackson streets after attending two services at St. Joseph’s and Holy Trinity on Sunday.
“You see it on TV and it’s always someplace else,” she said. “It bothers you, sure, but then when it’s at home ... it’s so much more real.”
Segar drives for Uber and considers it a stroke of luck that her alternate drove Saturday night instead of her. She often finds herself in the Oregon District at 1 a.m., prime time as she refers to it, to help get young people home safely.
“I woke up so worried for my (University of Dayton) students,” she said. “It’s usually such a safe place to go out.”
James and Stephanie O’hara went to bed thinking about El Paso and woke up this morning to the news of a mass shooting close to home.
“You can’t just say enough is enough,” James, 51, said, referring to Mayor Nan Whaley’s initial remarks.
James works on 4th Street, and the couple live in the Dayton suburb of Oakwood. Both were shocked to discover the shooter lived in Bellbrook. Their kids play in rival sports leagues against teams in Bellbrook.
“You have to ask yourself individually — what am I going to do?” James O’hara said.
He plans to write to his congressman, Mike Turner, Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, along with Whaley and the White House. He also said he is going to start a petition on change.org to bring common sense changes to existing U.S. gun laws.
“This is the perfect time to say now. Now is enough,” James O’hara said. “We start small, locally and then we grow.”