High-school classmates of the gunman who on Sunday killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, have said that he was suspended for compiling a “hit list” of those he wanted to kill and a “rape list” of girls that he wanted to sexually assault.
The accounts by two former classmates emerged after police said that there was nothing in the background of Connor Betts that would have prevented him from purchasing the .223 caliber rifle with extended ammunition magazines that the 24-year-old 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 said 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 that he wanted to sexually assault, according to the two classmates, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern that they might be harassed.
“There was a kill list and a rape list, and my name was on the rape list,” the female classmate said.
A former cheerleader, the woman said that she did not 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, but after some time passed he was back, walking the halls,” she said. “They didn’t give us any warning that he was returning to school.”
Officials of the Bellbrook and Sugarcreek schools 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.
Although Betts, who was 17, was not named publicly by authorities as the author of the list, the former classmates said that it was common knowledge within the school that he was the one suspended over the incident.
Drew Gainey was among those who went on social media on Sunday to say that red flags were raised years ago about Betts’ behavior.
“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 Twitter on Sunday.
Gainey did not respond to messages 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 that he “would not dispute that information” when the Daily News asked him on Sunday about the hit list suspension.
Betts had no apparent criminal record as an adult, although 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 on Sunday.
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