2019 Dayton shooting
On August 4, 2019, 24-year-old Connor Betts shot and killed nine people, including his brother,[a] and wounded 17 others near the entrance of the Ned Peppers Bar in the Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio.[3][5][6] Betts was fatally shot by responding police officers 32 seconds after the first shots were fired.[3][7] A total of 27 people were taken to area hospitals.[7] It is the deadliest mass shooting to occur in Ohio since the 1975 Easter Sunday Massacre.
2019 Dayton shooting
Ned Peppers Bar
419 East 5th Street
Dayton, Ohio, United States
People near Ned Peppers Bar
10 (including the perpetrator and his brother[a])
Connor Stephen Betts
Unknown
A search of the shooter's home found evidence that showed an interest in violence and mass shootings and that he had expressed a desire to commit one. He considered himself a leftist and voiced his support for Antifa,[8] a preliminary assessment did not indicate that Betts had a racial or political motive.[9] The attack occurred just 13 hours after a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.[10]
Shooting[edit]
Two hours before the shooting the gunman was seen entering a bar with his brother[a] and a friend in the downtown Oregon Historic District of Dayton. At about 12:13 a.m. he split from the two and was recorded leaving the bar.[11]
At 1:05 a.m. eyewitnesses reported that a man opened fire at the entrance of Ned Peppers Bar in the Oregon Historic District.[12] He was carrying an AR pattern pistol with a shortened barrel, chambered in .223-caliber and equipped with a 100-round drum magazine.[2][13][1] He fired 41 rounds into the crowd in less than 30 seconds, fatally shooting nine people and wounding 17 others. An additional 10 people were injured by other causes, bringing the total number of injured to 27.[14][15][16]
According to Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl, 20 seconds after the shooting began,[7] law enforcement officers were already on the scene and engaged with the gunman.[17] Within 32 seconds of the first shots being fired,[3] the gunman was shot dead.[18] An autopsy report released on December 6 showed that Betts was hit with 30 rounds.[19] Police evacuated many nearby night venues and warned Dayton residents to stay away from the Oregon Historic District.[18]
Perpetrator[edit]
Soon after the attack, police identified the gunman as Connor Stephen Betts,[26] a 24-year-old who lived in Bellbrook, Ohio.[18][27] According to police, he had minor traffic offenses on his record.[28][29]
Betts made online references about Satan and described himself as a leftist and antifa sympathizer.[30][31][32] In the hours before he opened fire in Dayton, he "liked" a post in favor of gun control, and several concerning the El Paso shooting, including a tweet that called the El Paso shooter a "terrorist" and a "white supremacist".[32] Betts was also known to have been in support of presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.[33][34] An investigation concluded by the FBI in 2021 found that Betts "acted alone and was not directed by any organization or aligned to any specific ideological group," and that he "fantasized about mass shootings, serial killings, and murder-suicide for at least a decade".[35]
Two former high school classmates said Betts was suspended from Bellbrook High School after he made lists of other students he wanted to kill and rape.[36] The "hit list" was discovered in 2010 and resulted in a police investigation.[36] He was previously bullied and had planned to shoot up the school, a classmate said.[28] His high school girlfriend said he complained of visual and auditory hallucinations and psychosis, and was afraid of developing schizophrenia.[37]
Investigation[edit]
On August 4, police and the FBI searched the shooter's home and found evidence that showed an interest in violence and mass shootings and that he had expressed a desire to commit a mass shooting.[14] A preliminary assessment did not indicate the shooter had a racial or political motive.[9] As of August 5, 2019, police investigators stated that the investigation is ongoing and that they are not prepared to speculate about motivation.[9][38] On August 5, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl stated that: "We have a lot of evidence still to go through ... based on where we're at now, we are not seeing any indication of race being a motive."[39] Investigators are divided and have not determined whether he shot his sibling deliberately.[39] A federal law enforcement official said that they were looking at whether the suspect was associated with incel groups.[40]
The suspect had additional ammunition magazines with him, and was wearing body armor, a mask and hearing protection during the attack.[15][41] He ordered the firearm used in the shooting online from Texas, and the firearm was transferred to a local firearms dealer in Ohio, where he picked it up.[16] The firearm used was "modified in essence to function like a rifle", according to the Dayton Police; photos released by the Dayton Police show an AR-15 style firearm with a pistol brace.[2]
On August 15, the Montgomery County Coroner announced that Betts had cocaine, alcohol, and Xanax in his system; and he also had a vape pen and a baggie containing cocaine in one of his pockets.[24]
