Dayton gunman Connor Betts might NOT have intended to kill his sister Megan | Daily Mail Online
Aug 13, 2019
- In a Tuesday press conference, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl released a detailed timelines of events of the night that 24-year-old Connor Betts killed nine
- Investigators remain divided over whether he intentionally set out to kill his sister Megan or not, believing his view to be obscured when he first opened fire
- Officials say Betts also wounded 17 others – three more than was initially reported by authorities in the shooting’s wake
- The police chief refused to conclusively answer whether Betts was under the influence of drugs at the time of the attack but said he was a user of drugs
- Authorities added the immediate motivation behind the shooting - its timing and the location chosen - is not known, and may never be known
During a Tuesday press conference, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl released a detailed timeline of events of the night that 24-year-old Betts killed nine in a rampage outside Ned Peppers bar on August 3.
Text messages show Connor Betts knew roughly where his 22-year-old sister Megan was when he first opened fire, but what’s not known is whether he could specifically see her standing under an umbrella at a taco stand.
'If we can’t seem to make that call conclusively — that we’re divided about how, whether that was intentional or not — I think it’s inconclusive,' Biehl said.
According to Biehl, Betts, his sister, and their mutual friend, Charles Beard, arrived at the Oregon District and parked in the lot behind Thai 9 at 11:04pm.
All three of them entered a bar called Blind Bob’s where they remained together until 12:14am on Sunday morning.
At this time, Betts left Blind Bob’s and went to Ned Peppers where he would stay for around 30 minutes, before returning to his car by himself at 12:44am.
Betts was seen on CCTV camera loitering around the vehicle for around eight minutes. He was seen looking at items inside his trunk, gathering them into a backpack and changing into a dark hooded sweatshirt.
As he walked away from the car, Betts could be seen carrying a black backpack, walking back towards Blind Bob’s through a darkened side alley.
In the shadowed walkway, Betts hid for around nine minutes, where police believe he was reassembling his assault rifle, which they say was broken down in the bag.
Moments later, Betts was seen running out from the walkway and began shooting at 1:05am, initially killing three people stood near a taco truck outside Blind Bob’s.
The gunman then started running down 5th street, firing his weapon as he ran, before crossing the street and killing several more people, Dayton police said.
[...]
They added that the gunman was ‘very familiar with the Oregon District’ and appeared to be acting alone.
The police chief refused to conclusively answer whether Betts was under the influence of drugs at the time of the attack, pending the outcome of a toxicology report.
Biehl did however admit that drug paraphernalia was found in the car, and said it's known the gunman was a drug user, though it’s unclear how frequent such use was.
[...]
ETHAN KOLLIE
On Friday, Betts’ friend Ethan Kollie was arrested on federal firearms charges accused of possessing a firearm while using or addicted to a controlled substance and falsely filling out a firearms application form.
Kollie also bought armor and a 100-round magazine for Betts, authorities said. But they said there was no evidence he knew what Betts planned.
Kollie will appear Wednesday in federal court. His attorney said he has been cooperating with investigators.
‘He was as shocked and surprised as everyone else that Mr. Betts committed the massacre,’ attorney Nick Gounaris said Monday.
In an interview with federal agents, Kollie said he had done hard drugs, marijuana and LSD with Betts several times a week between 2014 and 2015, the affidavit says. Still, prosecutors emphasized that Kollie did not intentionally help plan the shootings.
Prosecutors accused Kollie of lying about not using marijuana on federal firearms forms in the purchase of a pistol that wasn’t used in the shooting.
Possessing a firearm as an unlawful user of a controlled substance is a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Making a false statement regarding firearms carries a potential maximum sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment.
Police have said there was nothing in Betts’ background to prevent him from buying the gun.
ETA:
Kollie, 24, is charged with an unrelated count of lying to purchase a gun for himself, authorities said Monday. He was arrested Friday and is being held in a Dayton jail.
Despite his history with drugs—including a 2013 guilty plea for marijuana possession—Kollie allegedly answered “no” to a question about unlawful drug use on a form he filled out to purchase a handgun in May.
Kollie allegedly told authorities he lied because if “he told the truth about his drug use, he would not be allowed to purchase a firearm,” the complaint said.
FBI: Dayton Gunman’s Friend Helped Stockpile Arsenal
