New York Post, Tuesday, August 6, 2019
nypost.com
DOUBLE MASSACRE: DAYTON
By AARON FEISDayton gunman Connor Betts
squeezed off at least 41 shots
during his 30-second rampage
that left nine people dead —
and was supplied with enough
ammo and bullet clips to com-
mit a much worse bloodbath,
cops said Monday.
“If all the magazines that we
recovered from the suspect
were completely full... includ-
ing the loose rounds found on
the ground near him, as well as
in a backpack that he carried,
he would’ve had a maximum of
250 rounds in his possession at
the time,” said Dayton Police
Chief Richard Biehl.
Masked and clad in a bullet-
proof vest, Betts, 24, opened
fire with his AR-15-style rifle
outside a busy stretch of bars in
Dayton’s downtown Oregon
District at around 1:05 a.m. Sun-
day, cops have said.
His first victim was his 22-
year-old sister, Megan, and he
was about to enter a packed bar
where scores of people had run
for cover when he was shot
dead by cops, ending his spree
just 30 seconds after it began.
But the power of his rifle and
the capacity of the double-
drum magazine with which it
was equipped — both legally
purchased — underscore how
much worse the slaughter could
have been, officials said.
“It is fundamentally problem-
atic to have that level of weap-
onry in a civilian environment,unregulated,” said Biehl.
Investigators so far have re-
covered 41 spent shell casings
from Betts’ rifle — as well as 65
fired by the six heroic cops who
ran into harm’s way to take him
out— but stressed Monday that
more evidence could still be
found at the scene.
Officials also clarified the at-
tack’s injury total on Monday:
Of the at least 27 survivors
treated in the aftermath, 14
were shot. The rest were either
trampled in the frantic flight or
suffered lacerations, including
from shattered glass.
Among the shot survivors is a
mutual male friend of Betts and
his sister. Cops have spoken
with the hospitalized pal —
who hasn’t been identified —
but said he hasn’t been able tolift the fog on what remains the
biggest mystery: Betts’ motive.
“Not close enough at all,”
Biehl responded when asked if
investigators were anywhere
near establishing a motive.
“We have a lot of evidence
still to go through.”
Despite six of the slain vic-
tims being black, Biehl said
there’s no indication the attack
was racially motivated.
Cops are also considering ini-
tial word that Betts had a beef
with a bar on the strip after being
turned away earlier in the eve-
ning, according to Biehl, al-
though he said he couldn’t con-
firm “with certainty” that any
such interaction had taken place.
Betts had no adult criminal
record, but was twice sus-
pended in high school for main-taining a “hit list” and a “rape
list” naming classmates. He was
also a singer in a band called
Menstrual Munchies, a part of
the local “pornogrind” music
scene, which features misogy-
nistic and violent imagery, ac-
cording to Vice News.
Betts, his sister and their
friend drove to the Oregon Dis-
trict together a short time be-
fore the attack, but Betts sepa-
rated from the other two once
they arrived, police have said.
It remains unclear whether he
intentionally targeted his sister
and their friend.
“It seems to defy believability
he would shoot his own sister,”
said Biehl. “But it’s also hard to
believe that he didn’t recognize
that was his sister.” With Wires
[email protected]MONSTER: Connor Betts
(right) moves in on a packed
Dayton bar (above) seconds
before being taken down by
police gunfire. He had already
squeezed off 41 shots and,
had he made it inside, it would
have been catastrophic.DOUBLE MASSACRE: DAYTON
A critical-care nurse became
one of the heroes of the Day-
ton, Ohio, massacre by stop-
ping her own flight from the
gunman to tend to the
wounded victims.
Kayla Miller (above) had
been celebrating a friend’s
birthday at the Ned Peppers
Bar when Connor Betts started
shooting, NBC’s “Today” show
reported.
“I look down the sidewalk
and see just a row of bodies.
People shot — some alive,
some not,” Miller recounted,
tears welling in her eyes.
She said she first realized
something was wrong as peo-
ple began fleeing the bar.
“It was pretty evident be-
cause everyone was just crawl-
ing toward the back exit, just
fighting each other to get out,”
she told “Today.”
She was covered in blood as
she tried to help several vic-
tims, witnesses told the Daily
Mail.
Cops killed Betts within 30
seconds of his first shot, but
that was all the time he needed
to kill nine people, most of
them revelers 30 or younger
enjoying a night on the town,
according to officials.
Another 14 people were
wounded by Betts’ gunfire, and
at least 13 were trampled or
suffered cuts in the ensuing
panic, first responders have
said.
“I’m grateful to be able to be
alive and talk to my family and
friends and tell them I’m OK,
but my heart breaks for these
families,” Miller said. “It’s just
not fair.” Yaron SteinbuchHero nurse
risked her
life to give
fallen CPR