MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2019 The Boston Globe The Nation A
MASSSHOOTINGS
paignto a halt, reigniteda de-
bate on gun control,and called
into question the increasingly
angry words directed at immi-
grants on the southern border
in recentweeks by right-wing
pundits and President Trump.
“It’s outrageous,” said Terri-
on Foster, who works in ac-
countingand livesin Kansas
City, Mo., where he was out
shoppingat a farmer’s market
neardowntownon Sunday af-
ternoon.“It’s reallysad because
I feel like you can’t go anywhere
and be safe.I’m 50 yearsold
and I didn’t thinkI’d be aliveto
see some of the thingsthat are
going on today.”
The shootings promptedRe-
publicans,includingTrump, to
condemnthe gunmen’s actions
and offer support to the people
of Daytonand El Paso. Demo-
crats urged Congressto take ac-
tion and pass stricter gun laws.
“We have a responsibility to the
people we serve to act,” Speaker
Nancy Pelosi said in a state-
ment.
Residents of El Paso wereon
edge, grimly aware of a mani-
festo posted online that the au-
thorities said was written by the
suspect, PatrickCrusius, 21,
who was in police custody. The
manifesto spoke of a “Hispanic
invasion of Texas,” described an
imminentattack by the writer,
and railed against immigrants.
Federal investigators in El
Paso said they weretreating the
massacre at the Walmart that
also wounded another27 on
Saturday morningas an act of
domestic terrorism, and prose-
cutors said they wereconsider-
ing federal hate crime charges.
They werealso consideringfed-
eral gun charges that would
carry the death penalty.
“We are going to conduct a
methodical and careful investi-
gation with a view towardthose
charges,” said John F. Bash, the
United States attorney for the
Western District of Texas, who
said he had consulted withAt-
torney General William P. Barr.
In Bellbrook, a quiet suburb
of Dayton that residents de-
uSHOOTINGS
Continued fromPageA
scribed as a “utopia,” the typical
Sunday morningpeace was dis-
ruptedby the policeand news
mediawho swarmed the cul-de-
sacsandsidewalksoftheneigh-
borhood where Connor Betts,
the 24-year-old suspect, is be-
lieved to have lived.
Theo Gainey, who lived for
10 years down the block from
the Bettses and was a year
aheadof Betts in school, re-
membered him as a “bit of an
outcast,” ostracized in large
part becauseof threats he made
at school that got him into seri-
ous trouble.
“He got arrested on the
schoolbus” for the threats, said
Gainey, who added that he was
on the bus himself whenit hap-
pened.
Gainey, 25, did not remem-
ber the specificsof the threats
but said that Betts had to leave
schoolfor the rest of that year.
Whenhe returned, people
didn’t wantto hangout with
him.”
Betts died during the shoot-
ing and his motive appearedto
be unclear. Some details about
him beganto emerge on Sun-
day: He attended local public
schools in Bellbrook, took class-
es at Sinclair Community Col-
lege in the Dayton area and was
majoring in psychology. He had
been workingat a gas station
and was registered to continue
classes in the upcomingfall se-
mester.
He was charged in May 2016
withoperating a vehiclewhile
underthe influence in 2015,
and a ticket said he had a blood
alcoholcontentof .091,over
the legallimitof 0.08.Mr. Betts
pleaded guilty the next year to a
lessercharge of having physical
controlof a vehiclewhileunder
the influence.
Witnesses to the shooting,
whichoccurred in the early
morning hours of Sunday, de-
scribeda scene of horrorand
chaos.
JamesWilliams, 50, had
beenseated with friends on the
patio at Ned Peppers,a bar near
where the shooting occurred.
He and his friends got up and
walked acrossthe street whensuddenly, they heardshots.
He and a friendrushedback
to the bar and found bodiesall
over the ground.Officers at the
scene were asking for belts to
use as tourniquets, so Williams
tookhis belt off. His friendat-
tempted CPR on one of the vic-
tims, pumping his chest and
urging the man to hang on. He
didn’t survive.
“You just wouldn’t believe
the people who have pulled to-
gether and tried to save these
people and there wasn’t any
saving,” Williamssaid.
The shootingbegan at 1:
a.m. on East Fifth Street in Day-
ton’s Oregon entertainmentdis-
trict, which was bustlingwith
late-night revelers enjoying a
warmsummerevening, said
Nan Whaley, the mayor of Day-
ton. Uniformedofficers on rou-
tine patrol in the area respond-
ed, shooting and killing the
gunmanwithinone minute of
his first gunshots,she said.
The gunman was wearinga
mask,bodyarmor, and hearing
protection,and he possesseda
high-capacity magazine capa-
ble of holding100 rounds, the
policesaid.
The ninevictimsweremen
and womenrangingfrom22 to
57 years old, includingBetts’s
sister, Megan, who was 22.
Twenty-seven other people
were injured.
The authorities said Betts ar-
rivedin the entertainment dis-
trict Saturday evening with his
sister, Megan,and another
“companion.” Betts then split
fromthe group for a period of
timebefore openingfire, the
authorities said.
Across the country, Ameri-
cans tried to process the week-
end of violence whilegoing
about their usualroutines.
Trump,who spentthe week-
end at his estate in Bedminster,
N.J., thanked law enforcement
officials in bothcitieson Sun-
day, declaringthat “hate has no
place in our country and we are
going to take care of it.” He said
that “a lot of things are in the
works.”
The president did not elabo-
rate on that statement.Two cities torn by bursts of terror
ByMorganLee
and Amy Guthrie
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In El Paso, a shooteropened
fire and left 20 peopledead and
morethantwo dozeninjured.
Hours later in Dayton, Ohio, a
shooter killed 9 peopleand in-
jured at least 27 others. Here
are someof theirstories:
JordanAnchondo: ‘Gaveher
life’ for herbaby
Jordan Anchondo was
amongthosekilledin El Paso,
Anchondo’s sister said, and she
apparentlydied while protect-
ing her 2-month-old son from
the hail of bullets.
Leta Jamrowski of El Paso
spoke as she paceda waiting
room at the University Medical
Center of El Paso, where her 2-
month-old nephew was being
treated for broken bones — the
resultof his mother’s fall.
‘‘From the baby’s injuries,
they said that more than likely
my sister was trying to shield
him,’’ she said.‘‘So whenshe
got shot she was holdinghim
and she fell on him,so that’s
why he broke some of his
bones. So he pretty much lived
becauseshe gave her life.’’
Jordan, a mother of three,
andAndreAnchondohad
droppedoff their5-yearold
daughter at cheerleading prac-
tice before going to shopfor
school supplies on Saturday at
Walmart. They never returned.
AndreAnchondo remained un-
accounted for. Bodies were still
in the Walmart on Sunday.
NicholasCumer: Hadhelped
cancer patients
A graduate student at a uni-
versity in Pennsylvania who
was interning with a Dayton fa-
cility for people battling cancer
was among thosekilled in the
Ohio city. Nicholas Cumer was
a graduate studentin the mas-
ter of cancer care program at
SaintFrancisUniversity.
‘‘Nicholaswas dedicated to
caring for others,’’ the universi-
ty’s president, MalachiVan Tas-
sell, said. The university, in Lo-
retto, Pa., is the oldest Francis-
caninstitution of higher
learning in the United States.
Cumerhad beenin Dayton
as part of his internshipwith
the Maple Tree CancerAlli-
ance,which strivesto improve
the quality of life for individu-
als battling cancer.
Van Tassell said a Mass in
Cumer’s memory will be ar-
ranged on campusthis week.Lois Oglesby: Studyingto be
a nurse andhelpchildren
Lois Oglesby, 27, was in
nursing school and looked for-
ward to a career that would al-
low her to use her love for chil-
dren, her cousin said. She was
also the mother of a newborn
and had an olderdaughter.
Derasha Merrett toldthe
DaytonDailyNews that she
was up feeding her ownnew-
born when a friend calledher
at 3 a.m. Sunday to tell her,
through sobs,that Oglesby had
died in the Dayton shooting.
She was a wonderful moth-
er, a wonderful person,’’ Mer-
rett said.‘‘I have criedso much,
I can’t cry anymore.’’
Merrett saidshe and her
cousin grew up in the samechurch,were on the samedrill
team,andthatOglesbyworked
at her children’s day care cen-
ter.
‘‘We all grew up in this little
town, Merrett said. ‘‘We’re all
family.’’JessicaCoca Garciaand
MemoGarcia:Fund-raising
for kids’sports team
Jessica Coca Garcia and
Memo Garcia were at the Wal-
mart in El Paso to raise funds
for a youthsports teamone of
theirchildrenplayed on when
the gunman openedfire,
wounding them,a relative says.
Norma Coca toldWichita
television station KWCH that
her daughterand son-in-law
werenear the frontdoors of the
Walmart when they wereshot.
Coca, who lives in Salina,
Kan., said her daughter, Jessica
Coca Garcia, was shotthree
times in the leg. She says her
son-in-law, Memo Garcia,was
shot twice in the leg and once
in the back. She said her
daughter was in stable condi-
tion and her son-in-law was in
criticalcondition.
JessicaCoca Garcia’s father,
Don Coca, said they have fami-
ly in the El Paso area who were
able to be with the couple. Don
Coca says: ‘‘Shewas just crying... I told her that our prayers
are thereand we’re on our way.’’
Good people in a bad situation
Victimsinclude
momwhodied
savingherbaby
MARKRALSTON/AFP/GETTYIMAGES
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