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South China Morning Post
Tribune News Service
- Betts ‘shared his darkness’ with her after they grew close in social psychology class and bonded over ‘depression humour’
- Johnson found it strange when Betts gave her ‘play-by-play’ of video but ‘not too weird’ as they often discussed serial killers in class
Connor Betts’ ex-bandmate and ex-girlfriend in recent days have each said that their relationships with Betts broke off before the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.
Police identified Betts as shooting and killing nine people and wounding dozens of others Sunday in the city’s Oregon District.
Ex-girlfriend Adelia Johnson, a Sinclair Community College student, provided the Dayton Daily News with a 6½-page statement detailing her relationship with Betts. In it she wrote that she grew close to him this year in their social psychology class.
Connor Betts’ ex-bandmate and ex-girlfriend in recent days have each said that their relationships with Betts broke off before the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.
Police identified Betts as shooting and killing nine people and wounding dozens of others Sunday in the city’s Oregon District.
Ex-girlfriend Adelia Johnson, a Sinclair Community College student, provided the Dayton Daily News with a 6½-page statement detailing her relationship with Betts. In it she wrote that she grew close to him this year in their social psychology class.
The two met in January this year, according to Johnson’s account. Betts, 24, of Bellbrook, majored in psychology at Sinclair Community College.
“We bonded over the laughable conspiracy theories that our professor tried to preach as we walked to similar parking spots in the college parking garage,” Johnson wrote. “We also were very open about our mental illnesses from the very beginning.”
Connor Betts’ ex-bandmate and ex-girlfriend in recent days have each said that their relationships with Betts broke off before the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.
Police identified Betts as shooting and killing nine people and wounding dozens of others Sunday in the city’s Oregon District
Ex-girlfriend Adelia Johnson, a Sinclair Community College student, provided the Dayton Daily News with a 6½-page statement detailing her relationship with Betts. In it she wrote that she grew close to him this year in their social psychology class.
The two met in January this year, according to Johnson’s account. Betts, 24, of Bellbrook, majored in psychology at Sinclair Community College.
“We bonded over the laughable conspiracy theories that our professor tried to preach as we walked to similar parking spots in the college parking garage,” Johnson wrote. “We also were very open about our mental illnesses from the very beginning.”
Gun violence in US a sad state of affairs
“So, when he started joking about his dark thoughts, I understood,” Johnson wrote. “… Joking about wanting to hurt people was just heard as ‘I have uncomfortable thoughts that are inappropriate to express, but I need to joke about them otherwise they’re too scary and real.’”
“That didn’t scare me, some of the sweetest people I know have those conditions,” Johnson said on Medium. “I told him that I have depression, generalised anxiety, and ADD (attention deficit disorder). We bonded over depression humour, something that only people who have been in the throes of it really ever understand and find humorous.”
During a date in March, she wrote that Betts asked her if she had seen video of “the synagogue shooting”.
“Even then, I did realise that that was a weird thing for a first date, but not too weird given the context of our class,” she said. “In our social psychology class, we regularly got off topic to talk about serial killers.”
One night in March or April, she said that he called her while in Illinois with his band.
He was “super drunk” and difficult to understand, but she did “catch bits and pieces among his topic jumping that he wanted to hurt a lot of people”.
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Dayton gunman had drugs in his system during mass shooting, coroner says — (Global News)
By John Seewer and Dan Sewell The Associated Press
August 15, 2019 7:20 pm
The gunman in Dayton who killed nine people had cocaine, an antidepressant and alcohol in his system during the mass shooting, and was cut down by a barrage of at least two dozen police bullets that penetrated gaps in his body armor, a coroner said Thursday.
“This incident involved an intense firefight that is rarely seen other than combat and an active-shooter incident,” Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said. “The officers were confronted with a moving shooter wearing body armor, actively executing victims with an AR-15-type weapon and high-capacity magazines.”
The coroner said police gunfire hit two people. One of them died, but Harshbarger said the gunman, not police, fired the lethal round.
Police investigators will review the medical records of the 17 who were wounded to determine if any of them were struck by the officers’ bullets, Biehl said.
Police haven’t yet determined a motive for the shooting.
Meanwhile, Betts’ parents have apologized for the wording in his obituary that didn’t mention the mass shooting whose victims included his younger sister.
Stephen and Moira Betts issued a statement that said the obituary for Connor Betts was “insensitive in not acknowledging the terrible tragedy that he created.”
They said they wanted to reflect the son they knew and weren’t trying to “minimize horror of his last act.”
The obituary described Betts as a “funny, articulate and intelligent man with striking blue eyes and a kind smile” before it was taken down Wednesday by a funeral home in their hometown of Bellbrook, Ohio.
Betts opened fire in a popular entertainment district in Dayton. Police shot him as he neared a crowded bar.
It’s not known whether Betts targeted his 22-year-old sister, Megan. They had spent an hour together at a bar in the same area before the shooting.
The family will be holding private memorial services for both of their children.
Ethan Kollie, a longtime friend of Betts who told investigators he bought the body armor, a 100-round magazine and a key part of the gun Betts used in the attack will remain in jail after a judge ordered Thursday that he be held without bond until his trial.
Authorities have said there’s no indication Kollie knew Betts was planning the mass shooting, but they charged him with lying on a federal firearms form while buying a pistol not used in the shooting.
His attorneys wanted him released on house arrest with electronic monitoring and other conditions, telling the judge Kollie had no history of violence and no role in the shooting. Prosecutors opposed his request to stay with a family friend.
© 2019 The Canadian Press