This archive report was first published on 6 August 2019.
On August 4, 2019, a devastating mass shooting occurred in Dayton, Ohio, leaving nine people dead and 27 injured. The shooter, 24-year-old Connor Betts, had a dark and violent past that was evident to those who knew him.
According to Mika Carpenter, a 24-year-old who met Betts at a summer camp when they were both 13, Betts' violent jokes and behavior were not hard to miss. 'I don't want to say I saw it coming,' Carpenter said, 'but if it was going to be anybody, it was going to be him.'
Betts' friends and acquaintances recalled his dark and often violent jokes, including riffs about 'bodily harm' that led many to keep their distance. Despite this, Carpenter became friends with Betts because she saw that he had a good side.
However, Betts' behavior became increasingly concerning, and Carpenter eventually cut off contact with him in 2013 after he lashed out at her during an online chat. 'I remember specifically him talking about being scared of the thoughts that he had, being scared that he had violent thoughts,' Carpenter said. 'He knew it wasn't normal.'
The police in Dayton were quick to caution that much about the shooting was still unknown, including the motive and how three people - Betts, his sister, and a mutual friend - all went out together and one ended up shooting the other two.
