Nine people were killed, including the gunman's own sister, and at least 27 were injured after a gunman wearing body armor and armed with a rifle and high-capacity magazines opened fire on a line of people waiting to get inside Ned Peppers Bar in Dayton, Ohio's Oregon District early Sunday morning.
The suspected gunman was identified as 24-year-old Connor Betts, who was shot and killed by officers already patrolling the popular nightlife area within one minute.
Betts' 22-year-old sister Megan was the youngest of the deceased victims. She was with her brother prior to shooting, and the two came to Oregon District in the same vehicle and later separated, said Dayton Police Chief Richard S. Biehl at a Sunday afternoon news conference.
Police said the .223-caliber rifle Betts used was ordered online from Texas and transferred to Betts at a firearms dealer in the area, but had not identified a possible motive as of Sunday afternoon.
The other deceased victims are Lois L. Oglesby, 27; Saeed Saleh, 38; Derrick R. Fudge, 57; Logan M. Turner, 30; Nicholas P. Cumer, 25; Thomas J. McNichols, 25; Beatrice N. Warren-Curtis, 36; and Monica E. Brickhouse, 39.
Local hospital representatives say the injuries included gunshot wounds and lacerations. At least 15 of the wounded had been released, and several people remained in serious or critical condition.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley commended the officers for their swift response.
"If Dayton police had not gotten to the shooter in under a minute - and think about that, nine killed and 26 injured in under a minute - hundreds of people in the Oregon District would have been killed," Whaley said.
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Dayton's shooting came just hours after a 21-year-old killed 22 people and injured 24 more at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. In all, 29 people were killed and 53 injured in the two shootings.
In Dayton, a survivor described "bodies falling in the line" to get into the bar and eyewitnesses described the speed at which the shooting occured.
"I turn around and you can just see bodies falling in the line," Anthony Reynolds told NBC News. "You hear about it, you see it on TV, but like they say, when it hits home, it hits different."
Reynolds said he was leaving the bar when the shooting happened and described the shooter as a heavy-set white man. He said he knew one of the people killed.
Witness Taylor Mayberry said she and a friend heard gunshots erupt inside Ned Peppers Bar. She told NBC she dove to the ground and started running to the bathroom, where others were already hiding. She didn't see the shooter because the bar was crowded.
Mayberry said she got separated from her friend -- a nurse -- who later called her from a neighboring bar after running out Ned Peppers' back door and helping the victims.
"She says she ran around the block to the front of the bar and said she was one of the first people on the site to do compressions, so she said she did compressions on five people, probably, and wasn’t able to save any of them," Mayberry said. "She says people were gasping for air and she was covered in blood; she lost her phone and just trying to save these people’s lives."
Reynolds described the Oregon Historic District as full of bars and restaurants, live bands and young people on Saturday nights. He also referred to the El Paso shooting.
"Two of them in one day, it's starting to get scary with these mass shootings," Reynolds said.
Ned Peppers posted Sunday on its Facebook page that it's "confused" by why this shooting occurred in their "safe entertainment district." The post said that police regularly staffed there "engaged the shooter and neutralized the threat." The bar is assisting police in any way they can and remains closed. A bouncer was being treated for shrapnel wounds.
President Trump tweeted about both mass shootings Sunday morning.
"The FBI, local and state law enforcement are working together in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio," he tweeted. "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!"
Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio said "thoughts and prayers are not enough" after the Dayton shooting.
In a statement Sunday, Brown said he is angry that state and national lawmakers won't pass more gun safety laws.
Several proposals have been introduced in the GOP-led Legislature this session that would tighten requirements on firearms sales, transfers and storage. A gun safety group is also pushing to change state law to require background checks on nearly all guns sales.
The FBI is assisting with the investigation and a family assistance center is being set up at the Dayton Convention Center, police said. A vigil is planned Sunday night.
