A gunman wearing body armor and carrying extra magazines opened fire in a popular nightlife area of Dayton, Ohio, killing nine and injuring dozens, authorities say, in the second U.S. mass shooting in less than 24 hours.
Dayton police patrolling the area responded in less than a minute to the shooting, which unfolded around 1 a.m. Sunday on the streets of the Oregon District, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said at a press conference.
Whaley said if the police had not responded so quickly, “hundreds of people in the Oregon District could be dead today.”
The Oregon District is a historic neighborhood that Lt. Col. Matt Carper described as “a safe part of downtown,” home to entertainment options, including bars, restaurants and theaters.
#BREAKING: Just getting on scene in Oregon District. Dozens of police here. Working to confirm numbers and conditions on those shot. @dayton247now pic.twitter.com/hKtaoLTJpN
— Molly Reed (@Mollyreednews) August 4, 2019
The gunman, who has not been identified by authorities, was shot to death by responding officers. Whaley said he was carrying a .223-caliber rifle and had additional high-capacity magazines with him. Police believe there was only one shooter, and have not yet identified the suspect or a motive.
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At least 26 others are being treated at area hospitals, though no details about their conditions have been released.
Miami Valley Hospital spokeswoman Terrea Little said the hospital had received 16 victims, but she couldn’t confirm their conditions. Kettering Health Network spokeswoman Elizabeth Long said multiple victims from a shooting had been brought to system hospitals, but she didn’t have details on how many.
The FBI, local and state law enforcement are working together in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio. Information is rapidly being accumulated in Dayton. Much has already be learned in El Paso. Law enforcement was very rapid in both instances. Updates will be given throughout the day!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2019
Nikita Papillon, 23, was across the street at Newcom’s Tavern when the shooting started. She said she saw a girl she had talked to earlier lying outside Ned Peppers Bar.
“She had told me she liked my outfit and thought I was cute, and I told her I liked her outfit and I thought she was cute,” Papillon said. She herself had been to Ned Peppers the night before, describing it as the kind of place “where you don’t have to worry about someone shooting up the place.”
“People my age, we don’t think something like this is going to happen,” she said. “And when it happens, words can’t describe it.”
Tianycia Leonard, 28, was in the back, smoking, at Newcom’s. She heard “loud thumps” that she initially thought was people pounding on a dumpster.
#BREAKING: Even more police presence down by Dublin Pub. Waiting to hear where office scene is. pic.twitter.com/OWpYox1OTQ
— Molly Reed (@Mollyreednews) August 4, 2019
“It was so noisy, but then you could tell it was gunshots and there was a lot of rounds,” Leonard said.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting and praised law enforcement’s speedy response in a tweet Sunday morning.
Gov. Mike DeWine issued his own statement before 7 a.m., announcing that he’s ordered flags in Ohio remain at half-staff and offered assistance to Whaley.
“Fran and I are absolutely heartbroken over the horrible attack that occurred this morning in Dayton, the statement said. “We join those across Ohio and this country in offering our prayers to victims and their families.”
The FBI is assisting with the investigation. A family assistance center was set up at the Dayton Convention Center.
The Ohio shooting came hours after a young man opened fire in a crowded El Paso, Texas, shopping area, leaving 20 dead and more than two dozen injured. Just days before, on July 28, a 19-year-old shot and killed three people, including two children, at Northern California’s Gilroy Garlic Festival.
Sunday’s shooting in Dayton is the 22nd mass killing of 2019 in the U.S., according to the AP/USA Today/Northeastern University mass murder database that tracks homicides where four or more people killed — not including the offender. The 20 mass killings in the U.S. in 2019 that preceded this weekend claimed 96 lives.
The shooting in Dayton comes after the area was heavily damaged when tornadoes swept through western Ohio in late May, destroying or damaging hundreds of homes and businesses.
“Dayton has been through a lot already this year, and I continue to be amazed by the grit and resiliency of our community,” Whaley said.
(AP)
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16 Responses
No doubt, Americans are getting unhinged and going crazy. The guns are the method of killing but not the reason.
What is the reason? I think rejection of God and the concept of retribution for ones deeds coupled with a social philosophy of my pleasure over all.
What do others think?
Even with police right”nearby”, the results of a shooting in a public place with a long gun(semi automatic rifle with 30 round magazines) is 9 dead and 16injured.
I am a champion of responsible gun ownership and concealed carry.
But can anyone explain to me why semi auto rifles like this have a place in a peacetime society?
This is one topic I disagree strongly with the republicans. Since when did the 2nd amendment become part of the aseres Hadibros. The 2nd amendment was written in the 17 hundreds, before assault weapons and other weapons mass destruction. Its high time the 2nd amendment is amended to reflect the reality of 2019.
And trump says the “emergency” is Latinos at the border. The FBI just warned us that U.S. home born white supremacists are an urgent danger.
No one needs a semi automatic rifle! Outlaw them!
The senate has been sitting on background checks legislation for months. Moscow Mitch should call the senate to convene and vote on the darn law. His shoulder shouldn’t stop him.
Almost all rifles now in common use, whether for hunting, target shooting, or self-defense, are semi-automatic. All that distinguishes “assault rifles” is a cosmetic resemblance to fully automatic weapons. Very large-capacity magazines are actually a liability, as they are bulky, heavy and prone to jam. Long rifles such as the AR-15 are also easily deflected and taken away from the shooter at close quarters, as actually happened at Dayton. Many very deadly mass shooters have used semiautomatic pistols instead.
A large and scary-looking long gun such as an AR-15 is very effective in home defense, as its mere appearance is a powerful deterrent. Women in particular find them easy to fire, as they have much lower recoil than a .30 caliber deer rifle. So there are many reasons to allow these weapons to remain in common use, not least of which is the 2nd Amendment.
What’s wrong with a semiautomatic gun? Do you even know what that means? Do you want to manually chamber each bullet when a guy is breaking into your house? Are you dumb?
@rt- Lol, you’re hysterical. In both the literal and colloquial sense.
chareidi amiti, if you do not understand why some one needs semi-auto rifle maybe you do not need one, but please do not tell others who do understand their need for these rifles, and it it is not of your or any other Marxist Democrats business to tell other law abiding citizens what they need or do not need. Typical socialist mentality.
moish
It is clear you have no idea what purpose these semi auto rifles serve, or even what they are.
Regarding other law abiding citizens- both shooters were law abiding until last Saturday, and now there are 29 dead bodies to show for that pre massacre law abidingness.
Consider solutions to save future victims of mass murder, instead of spewing pre chewed hannity.
I will take your infantile insults all life long if it means saving one person from being killed by 2nd amendment worship.
The second amendment is no less holy than the first, or the fourth, fifth, and sixth.
chareidi amiti, based on our comments you seem to be a person who definitely should be kept away from any firearms.
I own several, but i would give them up if i knew that it was part of an initiative to prevent these churbans from destroying more families.
My guns are for preserving innocent life.
The second they become part of the problem, we are better off without them.
This is a perspective that is missing from American gun culture today.
chareidi amiti , you better practice what you preach. Be proactive, surrender all of your guns to police before they are used in next mass shooting. Just let the rest of us to decide for ourselves which guns wee need to keep.
Frankly I can’t understand what kind of a neighborhood you live in where you would need an AR for home protection. Of course you’ll need a legal range to practice on and money for the ammo. Seems to me if your neighborhood is so unsafe, you could move or invest in a home security system adn perhaps keep a handgun. I live in an area where folks hunt and shoot and range time for a pistol is available and affordable.
> chareidi amiti
“both shooters were law abiding”
There is more than being “law abiding”. Being “normal” should also be a requirement. You should research what is actually available out there. A7 reports that the Ohio shooter has a checkered past with threats of violence that he expressed verbally to his classmates, and really macabre and violent fantasies on his social media. I have to wonder if he was considered “normal” and allowed to purchase weapons (despite warnings about his strangeness to police) because he was a registered Democrat. That is correct. A7 traced that he was registered Democrat and he supported all the Democrat extremists in his social media.
The El Paso shooter was motivated by saving the environment from over population. That “sky is falling” scare tacktick so popular by the leftists and environmentalists and abortionists.