Ex-classmate of Dayton shooter had reported him to authorities in school after he told her she was on his 'rape list'
After shooter Connor Betts, 24. carried out a massacre at Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday, killing nine people and injuring several others, multiple ex-classmates of his spoke up about existing signs that pointed to his aggressive behavior.
Even as the police try to determine a motive behind the mass shooting that came within 24 hours of another one in El Paso, Texas, and claimed the life of Betts’ 22-year-old sister, Megan, his former high school classmates claimed that he was obsessed with death, had a history of violence and threatened to shoot up the school.
Jessica Masseth, a female classmate of Betts who studied with Bellbrook High School said that he texted her a list of girls he planned on raping because they had either spurned his advances or considered themselves superior to him. She was on that list.
As proof of his threatening behavior, she said that she had handed over copies of text messages that Betts had sent her to the authorities investigating the shooting.
She said that the Dayton shooting might have been prevented if the school officials, as well as the authorities, had paid heed to the red flags regarding his conduct at the time.
"The school failed us. The police failed us. He spoke and wrote of rape, decapitation and just the total destruction of those on that list, which included me," Masseth wrote on Facebook. "None of us are surprised by this. My mom called me with his name and I said 'makes sense'. If Bellbrook High School had taken it more seriously... If the police had treated it like it should have been treated... There are levels of failure here that are sick. This could have been prevented 10 f*****g years ago when I made that phone call, when I was interviewed by the police and when I told the school."
Apart from the rape list, there was also the "kill list" which included names of guys that Betts considered a threat. Both the lists were reportedly discovered by the police when Betts was still in high school and as a result, he was taken off the school bus and suspended from the institution.
Another girl who did not wish to be identified and was on the rape list said that she was contacted at the time by the authorities, who told her that she was one of Betts’ targets.
“The officer said he wouldn't be at school for a while,” she said, Daily Mail reported. “But after some time passed he was back, walking the halls. They didn't give us any warning that he was returning to school”
Bri Monique, an ex-classmate who worked with Betts at a fast-food restaurant claims that Betts was continuously talking about rape and decapitation and also threatened to kill customers who didn't leave tips.
“Conner Betts was a psychopath... I remember when he threatened to shoot up our school and had a hit list of people that he wanted to kill. I've worked with him too and he scared the employees on a daily basis,” Monique said. “Everyone who knew him knew he had issues. I would tell people all the time to just stay away from him because he's threatened to kill people.”
“When the customers didn't tip him, he would threaten to go to their house and kill them. I thought he was just all talk but then I would be at work by myself with him and hear him chanting things that sounded like he was worshiping the devil. I would be calling his name for him to stop and he wouldn't answer.” he added.
The hit list compiled by him was discovered in 2010 and it sparked a police investigation. However, Betts was not publicly named at the time and no one knows what happened to investigation. The police have refrained from commenting on it and the Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Schools only confirmed that Betts attended a school in the district.