Hours after El Paso’s horrific attack, in the early hours of Sunday morning, a gunman opened fire with a high-caliber rifle outside a bar in a popular downtown entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio, killing nine people and wounding dozens of others — all in under a minute. Police killed the suspect at the scene. He was identified as 24-year-old white male Connor Betts. He has a history of threatening women, and former classmates say he had a “kill list” and a “rape list” in high school. The victims were mostly in their twenties and thirties, and most of them were black. One of the victims, Megan Betts, was the gunman’s sister.
At a vigil Sunday, crowds interrupted a speech by Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine with shouts of “Make a change” and “Do something!”
Gov. Mike DeWine: “And, of course, as governor, I’m here representing all the people of the state of Ohio.”
Crowd: “Do something!”
Gov. Mike DeWine: “We are here tonight” —
Crowd: “Do something! Do something!”
Gov. Mike DeWine: — “because we all want [inaudible].”
Crowd: “Do something!”
Gov. Mike DeWine: “We know that we cannot” —
Crowd: “Do something! Do something!”
Gov. Mike DeWine: — “ease the pain of those families who have lost someone.”
Crowd: “Do something! Do something! You have the power to make a change!”
Also on Sunday, the captain of the Philadelphia Union soccer team, Alejandro Bedoya, grabbed a field microphone after he scored a goal, and demanded Congress take action following the two shootings.
Alejandro Bedoya: “Hey, Congress, do something now! End gun violence! Let’s go!”
That was Alejandro Bedoya. He said, “Congress, do something now. End gun violence.” He lives just 15 minutes from the Parkland massacre in Florida.