Dayton Shooting 8/4/19

Reviews
A detailed account of the shooting in Dayton, Ohio, according to NBC News. More comprehensive than some, this article focuses more on the past life of the gunman than the actual shooting.
Common Facts
Review Info (3)
First Published: 08/06/2019 09:04:42 pm
Last Updated: 11/30/-0001 12:00:00 am
Original Front Page Link
NBC News
Content (63)
Investigators seek motive of 24-year-old man who started shooting outside a popular Dayton bar.
Gainey said Betts demonstrated "violent tendencies," but did not elaborate.
There was no indication that Betts' political views were connected with the killings.
Melissa Appel, said she dated Betts the summer of 2018 to early 2019.
Appel described Betts as "quiet" and "respectful," and with whom she discussed anime and music.
Appel said he was "never aggressive" and did not demonstrate warning signs as far as she could tell.
"Appel, 30, was at work when authorities identified Betts as the gunman."
Appel said she could scarcely believe that a person she knew could do such a thing.
Appel added that Betts once took her to a shooting range.
Appel also added that he sometimes talked about guns.
Appel did not know he owned any firearms.
Appel's account of Betts contradicted other people who suggested Betts was socially alienated.
Theo Gainey, a neighbor, said he was "kind of a loner, a bit of an outcast."
Gainey added "a lot of people saw kind of a dark side in him."
Gainey described Betts as a "bad dude."
In interviews with The Associated Press (AP), two former high school classmates claimed Betts was suspended once for making a "hit list" of people to kill.
Betts replied with "expressions that seemed to support the anti-fascist movement."
The same classmates said Betts also made a "rape list" of girls he desired to sexually assault.
NBC News has not independently verified their accounts.
These accounts were discovered after police found nothing in Betts' background preventing the purchase of the .223 caliber rifle used in the shooting.
The former classmates spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity in case they would face harassment.
These classmates claimed Betts was suspended junior year at Bellbrook High School after the "hit list" was discovered scrawled in a campus bathroom.
This suspension succeeded a suspension over a "rape list" Betts brought to school, said classmates, a man and woman now both 24.
"'There was a kill list and a rape list, and my name was on the rape list,' the female classmate told the AP."
When the "hit list" came out in 2012, about 1/3 of Bellbrook High School students skipped school for fear of being targeted, according to the Dayton Daily News.
A 24-year-old woman told NBC News she was Betts' friend in middle school until he made a violent, sexual threat against her.
The woman, who requested anonymity, claimed Betts spoke about wanting to harm girls.
This same woman claimed Betts said he was afraid of this thoughts.
This woman added Betts showed her poems he wrote about killing people.
This woman said she urged Betts to get counseling.
In Betts' replies, he also seemed to support politicians such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Betts "sometimes retweeted prominent accounts associated with the political left."
Connor Betts, the gunman, was clad in body armor and carrying ammunition magazines.
Johnson ended the relationship by text.
Betts killed his sister.
Betts killed eight others, injuring dozens more early Sunday.
Betts was fatally shot by officers.
Adelia Johnson, 24, Betts' ex-girlfriend, said Betts would have known his actions to be "deplorable."
Johnson and Betts met early 2019 in psychology class at Sinclair Community College in Dayton.
Johnson and Betts bonded over a shared struggle with mental illness, Johnson said.
One date, Betts took Johnson to shoot a rifle.
Betts brought up mass murders when he and Johnson were together, she told "Today."
Johnson said Betts performed with an extreme heavy metal band known for sexually violent lyrics.
"On their first date, Johnson said Betts showed her body camera video from a mass shooting at a synagogue."
Later, Betts asked Johnson to accompany him while he tried to drop off an anonymous letter to an ex-girlfriend.
Johnson said the letter – "You can't escape your past" – unnerved her.
The letter incident was Johnson's final red flag, she said.
Johnson told her friends she was "scared by his actions."
On Twitter, Betts promoted gun ownership.
Johnson and Betts' relationship ended in May, 2019.
Johnson said she was stunned when she found that Betts was the gunman.
This Dayton shooting occurred only 13 hours after a mass shooting killing 22 people in El Paso, Texas.
Betts was a resident of the suburb of Bellbrook, Dayton.
Betts was shot within a minute of firing his first shot at 1:05 a.m.
"Police say Betts fired at least 41 shots."
No motive established.
On Monday, August 5th, investigators said they do not know if Betts shot his 22-year-old sister Megan Betts intentionally.
Betts' family has not commented publicly since the shooting.
Betts was active on Twitter.
Betts described himself as an "anime fan," a "metalhead," and a "leftist."
Twitter suspended his account after the shooting.
On Twitter, Betts promoted atheism.
She said, "He had really dark fantasies, a lot of them mixed death with sex."
Opinion (1)
People now see gunman's violent threats, hit lists, and fascination with shootings, to be red flags.
Article Info (4)
Date Published: 11/30/-0001 12:00:00 am
Date Accessed: 11/30/-0001 12:00:00 am
Article Author: Erik Ortiz, Gabe Gutierrez, Daniel Arkin and Ben Kesslen
Click here to see the article
USA Today
Content (19)
Family of Dayton mass shooter issued first statement to the public.
The Betts thank Chief Doherty and the Bellbrook Police Department for providing peace around their home.
The Betts family thanks everyone.
The Betts also request privacy to process the horror of the shooting.
The Betts request family privacy to mourn loss of children.
The Betts express enormous gratitude to all who supported during this time.
The Betts will not comment further on said investigation.
The Betts respect the investigative process conducted by Dayton Police and FBI.
The Betts family is working with the police in investigation of this tragedy.
The Betts thank those who provided aid and comfort to victims.
On Tuesday evening, Bellbrook Police Chief Doug Doherty read statement to members of media.
The Betts thank the first responders from the police and fire departments for their promptness in relieving casualties.
The Betts offer heartfelt prayers and condolences to all victims and their relations.
The Betts family is shocked and devastated by the shooting in Dayton.
In the statement, the Betts family also thanked those who comforted and grieved with them.
In the statement, the Betts family thanked police.
In under one minute, gunman killed 9 people and injured 27 outside night clubs in popular entertainment hub called the Oregon District
Gunman was 24 years old, lived in Bellbrook, Ohio.
"Doherty has acted as a de facto spokesperson for the Betts family."
Article Info (4)
Date Published: 11/30/-0001 12:00:00 am
Date Accessed: 11/30/-0001 12:00:00 am
Article Author: Max Londberg
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The Columbus Dispatch
Content (9)
President Donald Trump visited 1st responders and survivors of Dayton shooting.
Trump tweeted that he had just visited with the victims and family, police, medical staff and 1st responders.
Whaley and Brown accompanied Trump on his tour to Dayton, which was closed to the press.
Brown urged Trump to tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call the Senate into session this week to deal with gun violence.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, a Jefferson Township Democrat who grew up in Dayton, did not accompany Trump on the trip.
Separately, Beatty demanded McConnell call the Senate into emergency session to vote on 2 House-passed bills.
These two bills would tighten the background check system for buying guns.
This "red flag" law would enable a court to separate a possibly mentally ill person from their guns.
The early morning attack took 9 lives and the shooter as well.
Opinion (47)
Hours later, Trump blasted the city's mayor and Ohio's Democratic senator.
Trump says that China is not doing well.
Scavino said, "They all loved seeing their great President!"
There were some very powerful moments, Scavino added, throughout the entire visit.
"So much enthusiasm and love," Scavino said, "contrary to what the Trump Hating Dems would ever share or say."
While Trump walked through the hospital, dozens of protestors chanted outside, "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Donald Trump has got to go."
One protester held a sarcastic sign saying, "Toledo Strong," referencing Trump's mixing up the two Ohio cities.
Tuesday morning, before Trump's trip to Dayton and El Paso, he fired against accusations that "he helped fuel the rage that leads to mass shootings."
Trump thinks his rhetoric has nothing to do with the shootings.
Tump believes that his rhetoric brings people together.
Trump says that the US is doing "incredibly well."
Trump was asked if he'll still use such strong language such as calling the immigration from Mexico "invasion."
During the hospital tour, Trump told some of the wounded, "You had God watching. I want you to know we're with you all the way."
"Invasion" was the very word used by the El Paso shooter, who killed 22 Saturday.
Trump replied that he thought illegal immigration and open borders were very bad things for our country.
Trump called his impending OH visit a good opportunity to congratulate the police on the incredible job they did.
Trump blasted people who blame "his volatile comments for violence."
Trump said his critics are political people trying to make points.
Trump said his critics often are running for president and are low, very low in the polls.
Trump said the Dayton shooter supported Bernie Sanders, Antifa, or Elizabeth Warren, not him.
Earlier, Trump cited a conservative news site, tweeting that the Dayton shooter historically supported political figures like Sanders, Warren and Antifa.
Trump tweeted he hoped other news outlets would report this as opposed to Fake News – thank you.
Scavino added on Twitter that Trump was treated like a Rock Star in the hospital, which was all on video.
Whaley said that Trump's talks can often by divisive, which is the last thing Dayton needs right now.
"It was a warm and wonderful visit," Trump said, filled with "tremendous enthusiasm & even love."
"They are disgraceful politicians," Scavino said, "politicizing a mass shooting, at every turn they can."
Then Trump said he saw "Pres. Candidate (0%) Sherrod Brown & Mayor Whaley totally misrepresenting what took place inside of the hospital."
Trump said that their news conference after he left was a fraud.
Trump said that it bore no resemblance to his visit with the "incredible people" he was "so lucky" to talk with.
All the people were amazing, Trump said.
Trump bashed former VP (Vice President) Joe Biden also.
Biden condemned Trump for fanning "the flames of white supremacy" in America.
Trump tweeted, "Watching Sleepy Joe Biden making a speech. Sooo Boring!"
Biden would fail miserably, Trump intimated.
Earlier, White House social media director Dan Scavino tweeted it was "very sad" to see Brown & Whaley "LYING" and distorting Trump's visit to Miami Valley Hospital.
During a press conference after Trump's visit, Whaley and Brown "readily credited Trump with bringing comfort to those at the hospital."
Many people "are angry that officials have so far refused to 'do something.'"
Trump told the police he hoped to reward them for their quick response.
When Trump said this, Brown said he jumped in and told Trump his best action for the officers was to ban the "assault weapons" used in many mass shootings.
"Trump's response? 'He only said that we will get things done,' Brown said."
Whaley, who wanted Brown for president, said she also pushed Trump to advocate more gun restrictions.
"I'm not holding my breath," Whaley said.
Whaley also noted that government officials sometimes try to wait for people to forget so they can get away with doing nothing.
"'The people in the city of Dayton are really looking for action,' Whaley said."
Whaley noted the possibility of OH and TX becoming pilot tests for a possible nationwide "red flag" law.
Whaley approved of Trump's decision not to stop by the Oregon district, where the shooting occurred.
The alleged Democratic support comes from a Twitter account that some have linked to the Dayton killer.
Article Info (4)
Date Published: 11/30/-0001 12:00:00 am
Date Accessed: 11/30/-0001 12:00:00 am
Article Author: Darrel Rowland
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