Posted on 08/05/2019 6:25:32 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
High school classmates of the gunman who killed nine people early Sunday in Dayton, Ohio, say 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.
The accounts by two former classmates emerged after police said there was nothing in the background of 24-year-old Connor Betts that would have prevented him from purchasing the .223-caliber rifle with extended ammunition magazines that he used to open fire outside a crowded bar. Police on patrol in the entertainment district fatally shot him less than a minute later.
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.
“There was a kill list and a rape list, and my name was on the rape list,” said the female classmate.
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.
The discovery of the hit list early in 2012 sparked a police investigation, and roughly one-third of Bellbrook students skipped school out of fear, according to an article in the Dayton Daily News.
It’s not clear what became of that investigation. Chief Michael Brown in Sugarcreek Township, which has jurisdiction over the Bellbrook school, did not return calls Sunday about whether his agency investigated the hit list.
Though Betts, who was 17 at the time, was not named publicly by authorities at the time as the author of the list, the former classmates said it was common knowledge within the school he was the one suspended over the incident.
Drew Gainey was among those who went on social media Sunday to say red flags were raised about Betts’ behavior years ago.
“There was an incident in high school with this shooter that should have prevented him from ever getting his hands on a weapon. This was a tragedy that was 100% avoidable,” he wrote on in a Twitter post on Sunday.
Gainey did not respond to messages from AP seeking further comment, but the name on his account matches that of a former Bellbrook student who was on the track team with Betts.
Former Bellbrook Principal Chris Baker said he “would not dispute that information” when the Daily News asked him Sunday about the hit list suspension. He declined to comment further to the newspaper and the AP was unable to reach him.
Betts had no apparent criminal record as an adult, though if he had been charged as a juvenile that would typically be sealed under state law.
“There’s nothing in this individual’s record that would have precluded him from getting these weapons,” Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said Sunday.
Not everyone who went to school with Betts had bad things to say. Brad Howard told reporters in Bellbrook on Sunday that he was friends with Betts from preschool through their high school graduation.
“Connor Betts that I knew was a nice kid. The Connor Betts that I talked to, I always got along with well,” Howard said.
Mike Kern, a customer at the gas station where Betts used to work in Bellbrook, said he hasn’t seen Betts in about a year.
“He was the nicest kid you could imagine,” always friendly, Kern said. “I never heard him talk about violence, say a racist word, or anything like that.”
He said they sometimes played trivia at a bar near the gas station, and Betts often knew the answers on questions about current events and pop culture.
“He was real smart,” Kern said. “He knew all the answers.”
Mea culpa then.
What is an “extended ammunition magazine” and where can I get one?
The Parkland shooter sure fits that category. And it was formal written policy involving the Broward County schools and sheriff’s department.
Drew Gainey was among those who went on social media Sunday to say red flags were raised about Betts’ behavior years ago.
And nothing was done about it PC at fault.
Media winks
“””Notice they’re deflecting from his leftist support which was part and parcel of his desire to kill and murder.”””
You are so correct.
When it was announced yesterday that:
1. Connor Betts was a registered Democrat,
2. Connor Betts’ parents were registered Democrats and rabid, anti-Trumpers,
3. Connor Betts’ sister was a registered Democrat
I knew then that the leftist media would begin major damage control.
Since Connor Betts is dead, have any media asked the police about his prescription drug use?
I am confident that if any FReeper were a media person at a Dayton Police press conference, our first question would be: “Have you gathered evidence regarding Connor Betts prescription drug use?”
Need background checks on anyone who makes “hit” lists
One thing missing from all of the discussion. Where were his PARENTS? A common theme among many of these kids/shooting tragedies is parents where negligent. It isn’t the school/teacher’s responsibility to raise your kids it is our responsibility. If my kid had been found with a “hit list/rape list” some pretty serious action would have been taken and returning to that public school wouldn’t have been amongst those actions.
“If Betts was so smart, then what was he doing making burritos at a Chipolte fast food joint?”
LOL
Where are the POS parents in all of this? They should be made to publicly answer some hard questions.
All of the interest in the beliefs of psychopath killers is just useless.
They are just plain nuts, and they are filled with rage.
Born that way, got that way, what ever......they are that way.
When we push back we just distract from that essential and commanding point.
They are and will always be, we’re better off making earthquakes illegal.
And the manifesto itself says the media will falsely state he is a Trump supporter. And they still promote the lie. You here that leftist ? Your Universal Pay socialists even know you lie. Lol.
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