Classmates: Ohio Shooter Kept a ‘Hit List’ and a ‘Rape List’

DAYTON, Ohio—High school classmates of the gunman who killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, say he was suspended years ago for compiling a “hit list” and a “rape list,” and questioned how he could have been allowed to buy the military-style weapon used in this weekend’s attack.

The firearm used by the shooter Connor Betts, 22, is projected on a screen during a press conference about a mass shooting that left left multiple people dead and 26 injured along the 400 block of E. Fifth Street, in Dayton, Ohio, on Aug. 4, 2019. Albert Cesare/The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP

DAYTON, Ohio—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 emerged after police said there was nothing in the background of 24-year-old Connor Betts that would have prevented him from purchasing an AR 15-style rifle with an extended ammunition magazine that he used to open fire outside a crowded bar early on Aug 04. Police on patrol in the entertainment district fatally shot him less than a minute later.