It doesn’t seem to me that labeling that relationship as “weird” does anything constructive.
They dated for a while, had common ground dealing with mental illness, and she broke up with him when she realized he was too far over the edge.
It actually might be relevant. The shooter seemed to gravitate toward a nonconformist life style. It may have been tough to be rejected by a girlfriend with a fiance. I believe the rejection was recent which could have been the trigger.
Her post says it was “Two-ish months” ago, and the breakup is under the heading of “May 2019”, so perhaps near the end of that month?
she might have been the only sane outlet for his fascination of mass murders.
You can’t be serious.
This guy has had serious mental health issues his whole life. He has assaulted women since he was a teen-ager. He made a “rape list” and a “kill list” in school, resulting in evacuation and suspension. Several people he had known at various stages in his life felt threatened by him.
He often expressed suicidal thoughts. He often expressed fear of becoming schizophrenic. He admitted that he shouldn’t be allowed to own a firearm. He stalked an ex-girlfriend and was this close to leaving a threatening note.
He said he knew he needed treatment but refused to go to a professional for fear of being stigmatized by society.
And yet, and yet, you think it’s somehow relevant that one girl he dated for a few months had a “non-conformist lifestyle” because you think it’s “weird” that she is ethically non-monogamous? That’s sick.
His projected persona was one of shock value. Her non-conformist lifestyle fit right in. She becomes part of his persona.
yes, I think it’s relevant that she rejected him. Given his response to a previous rejection It’s logical this one triggered antisocial thoughts.
:dubious: No; it wasn’t. Read what the young lady wrote.
You seems to be ignoring these words and the words of others who knew him casually (where all they would know was the ‘projected persona’). If anything, his projected persona was of a calm, rational, reasonably well-adjusted young man.
He was a guy with huge problems, obviously, but ‘projecting a persona of shock value’ isn’t supported at all by what we know of him right now.
Their first date involved him showing her a disturbing video. His band was a shock porn band. he tried to have her deliver a threatening letter to a former girlfriend. He was suspended for writing a hit list on a bathroom wall. etc…
Her discussions with him showed a dark side. At some point she had to cut him loose so I don’t understand your point. Many psychopaths can pass themselves off as sociable when it serves their needs.
Local news showed images of him in a bar across the street prior to the shooting. He was just looking around. He would have left that bar to get the gun and mask. Also said he was at the recent Klan rally with a long gun and mask protesting it. I would expect that was well photographed so images should be available at some point.
FFS make up your mind: was he projecting a shock persona or was he projecting a normal persona? You can’t even keep your own argument straight.
ETA: Also, you have a lot of facts wrong.
What don’t you understand? Right out of the gate he showed his previous girlfriend a disturbing video. She talked about all the dark stuff he shared with her. He was suspended at school for writing a hit list on the bathroom wall. The band he played in, IN PUBLIC, was a porno band full of disturbing lyrics. That he was capable of blending in does not make it his normal persona.
I live in this city and frequent the bar district he shot up. By all means, tell me what I got wrong. It’s a pretty heavy news item here.
The shirt he was wearing referenced a song from The Acacia Strain called Ramirez. Don’t expect Pat Boone. Probably better lyrics than his own band but I haven’t looked it up yet.
The news is reporting that the bar employees were trained by the police on what to do in such a situation. There’s a picture of the bouncer going outside and grabbing the gun from the shooter who was down at this point. He put himself in the line of fire of the police.
His girlfriend said she never heard his band but he described it to her as something for shock value.
The shooter’s friend is being charged for lying on a federal form when purchasing a firearm. Apparently he was a druggie and helped the shooter acquire some of the equipment he used in the shooting (and hide it from his parents).
^bad link
You’re right, not sure how I screwed that up so badly. Here’s the right link: https://www.10tv.com/article/feds-dayton-shooters-friend-bought-him-body-armor-gun-accessory-2019-aug
^good link
USA Today has some additional information about the timeline, route, and victims. It sure sounds to me like he started out by targeting his sister:
Yes, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he started firing within 5 minutes of them leaving Blind Bob’s. Particularly when you take into account they were texting back and forth.
I find it puzzling that we haven’t heard from the mutual friend. It makes me think there is a large side story that will come out later.
AP with some interesting updates:
It’s not exactly surprising that some bystanders were hit in that volley of fire by the police:
FWIW, I think they made the right call. To refrain from firing because there were some bystanders in the backdrop would have allowed the shooter’s spree to continue.
According to the coroner 1 of the people hit by police involved a fatal shot but was also hit by a fatal shot by the shooter. Either bullet would have caused excessive blood loss.