DAYTON, Ohio — Less than 36 hours after a gunman killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, police are still searching for a motive in the attack. In addition to the nine killed, 14 others were shot, and many more injured while trying to flee the scene.
While people have been eager to make sense of the shooting, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said in a press conference Monday morning that there hadn't been much movement in the investigation so early on.
Police are still combing through all the evidence, but Biehl said that so far, there has been no indication of race being a motive in the shooting.
He said officers recovered at least 41 spent shell casings from the shooter's weapon based on their location and his path of travel, but stressed that evidence may have gone missing as people escaped.
Police also recovered several magazines from the suspect. Biehl said that if the magazines recovered were all at full capacity, the gunman would have had a maximum of 250 rounds with him, including loose rounds found on the ground and in his backpack.
All nine bodies were removed from the scene Sunday, and autopsies on the victims are still being completed by the coroner's office.
Emergency crews transported five people to the hospital, according to Fire Chief Jeffrey L. Payne. Many people self-transported to the hospital. The victims were treated for gunshot wounds, lacerations and other injuries related to fleeing the scene. Eleven of those victims still remain in the hospital.
The gunman, 24-year-old Connor Betts, drove to the scene with his sister Megan and another man. His sister was among those killed, and the man was treated for a gunshot wound to the lower torso. It is still unclear whether Betts was deliberately targeting his sister in the shooting, and while police have spoken to the other man, they are still investigating.
The Dayton Foundation has set up the Dayton Oregon District Tragedy Fund to assist victims of the shooting. The foundation will be meeting with counselors and other community foundations in the nation to determine how to allocate the funds to victims.
Donations can be made online or a check can be mailed to the following address with the Dayton Oregon District Tragedy Fund or Fund #8365 designated in the name field:
The Dayton Foundation
40 N. Main Street
Suite 500
Dayton, OH 45423
Officers stationed nearby shot and killed Betts 30 seconds after the shooting began.
While the gunman was white and six of the nine killed were black, police said the quickness of the rampage made any discrimination in the shooting seem unlikely.
Any attempt to suggest a motive so early in the investigation would be irresponsible, the police chief said.
Surveillance video shared by police showed officers shot Betts at the doorstep of the Ned Pepper's bar, preventing further casualties that would have occurred had he made it inside. Had he gotten inside the bar, the result would have been "catastrophic," Biehl said.
Anthony Reynolds, 31, said the first gunshot "was kind of an echo because of the buildings. Then it was rapid, rapid. People were just falling."
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine visited the scene Sunday and said policymakers must now consider: "Is there anything we can do in the future to make sure something like this does not happen?"
But hours later hundreds of people, mostly young adults, stood shoulder-to shoulder Sunday night at a vigil and vented their frustration at the Republican governor, interrupting him with chants of "Make a change!" and "Do something!" as he talked about the victims.
"People are angry, and they're upset. They should be," said Jennifer Alfrey, 24, of Middletown, who added that she didn't agree with interrupting the vigil but understood why so many did.
Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat, said there would be time later for dealing with policy issues and implored the crowd to honor the victims.
Whaley noted at a news conference that the city was still recovering from tornadoes that swept through western Ohio in late May, destroying or damaging hundreds of homes and businesses.
"What really goes through my mind is one seems completely preventable," she said. "When is enough enough?"
Ohio's two U.S. senators visited the scene of the mass shooting. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said responding with thoughts and prayers is not enough and stronger gun safety laws are needed. Republican Sen. Rob Portman said the discussion must include not just policy changes, but issues such as mental health support.
Police have said there was nothing in Betts' background that would have prevented him from buying the rifle used in the shooting. They said they also found a shotgun in his car.
Authorities identified the other dead as Monica Brickhouse, 39; Nicholas Cumer, 25; Derrick Fudge, 57; Thomas McNichols, 25; Lois Oglesby, 27; Saeed Saleh, 38; Logan Turner, 30; and Beatrice N. Warren-Curtis, 36.
Conflicting accounts of the shooter have emerged.
To some, Betts was known as a friendly guy who sometimes stopped for a beer or two at a bar southeast of Dayton in Bellbrook, a short drive from his home.
Bartender Andy Baker said Betts was at Romer's Bar & Grill last Monday and seemed fine. Fellow customer Mike Kern said he sometimes played trivia at Romer's with Betts, who was good for answers about current events and pop culture and was "the kind of kid you'd want as a son."
"I never heard him talk about violence, say a racist word, or anything like that," Kern said.
But high school classmates said he was suspended for compiling a "hit list" of those he wanted to kill and a "rape list" of girls he wanted to sexually assault.
Both former classmates told The Associated Press that Betts was suspended during their junior year at suburban Bellbrook High School after a hit list was found scrawled in a school bathroom. That followed an earlier suspension after Betts came to school with a list of female students he wanted to sexually assault, according to the two classmates, a man and a woman who are both now 24 and spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern they might face harassment.
A former cheerleader, the woman said she didn't really know Betts and was surprised when a police officer called her cellphone during her freshman year to tell her that her name was included on a list of potential targets.
"The officer said he wouldn't be at school for a while," she said. "But after some time passed he was back, walking the halls. They didn't give us any warning that he was returning to school."
Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Schools officials declined to comment on those accounts, only confirming that Betts attended schools in the district. Bellbrook Police Chief Doug Doherty said he and his officers had no previous contact with Betts and weren't aware of any history of violence, including during high school.
Betts had no apparent criminal record as an adult. If he had been charged as a juvenile, that would typically be sealed under state law.
The Ohio shooting came hours after a young man opened fire in a crowded El Paso, Texas, shopping area, leaving 21 dead and more than two dozen injured. Just days before, on July 28, a 19-year-old shot and killed three people, including two children, at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California.
President Donald Trump claimed Monday he wanted Washington to "come together" on legislation providing "strong background checks" for gun users, but he provided no details and previous gun control measures have languished in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Trump, who will make remarks to the nation later Monday, tweeted about the weekend shootings: "We can never forget them, and those many who came before them."
The Democrat-led House has passed a gun control bill that includes fixes to the nation's firearm background check system, but it has languished in the Senate.
Trump suggested that a background check bill could be paired with his long-sought effort to toughen the nation's immigration system. He didn't say how.
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Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth in Dayton, Michael Balsamo in Orlando, Florida, and Kantele Franko in Columbus contributed to this report.