Yellow Springs police records ID victim, details from fatal shooting

There was a heavy police presence in Yellow Springs on South High Street Thursday night, March 14, 2024, following a report of a shooting. MARSHALL GORBY \STAFF

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Credit: Marshall Gorby

There was a heavy police presence in Yellow Springs on South High Street Thursday night, March 14, 2024, following a report of a shooting. MARSHALL GORBY \STAFF

A 71-year-old woman died earlier this month after a man knocked on her door in the 600 block of South High Street in Yellow Springs and shot her in the face before fleeing, according to police and court records.

Yellow Springs Police identified the woman as Connie Vang, according to an incident report provided to the Dayton Daily News through a public records request.

The report stated that around 7:50 p.m. March 14, a Yellow Springs police officer, along with a fire department medic, was called to a house on South High Street on the report of an assault with a victim suffering from a gunshot wound.

When the officer arrived, he sent out a Signal 99, which requested all available units in the area. Village dispatch records show the incident was briefly thought to be an “active shooting.”

Two adult children of Vang were in the residence when she was shot in her doorway. Both were in different parts of the house when they heard a loud bang ring out through the home.

Her son told police he heard his mother answer a knock at the door and have a conversation with someone before he heard a loud noise, believing she had fallen. When he came to his mother’s aid, he noticed glass had shattered and no one was outside.

A Springfield man, Jackson Isaiah Bleything, was apprehended after allegedly threatening a man with a gun in Yellow Springs days later during the weekend following the fatal shooting. He faces charges in Xenia Municipal Court.

He has been identified in court records as the prime suspect in the murder of Vang, but has not been charged in connection with her death.

Yellow Springs police have been criticized for releasing few details and not warning the public that a suspect was at large for days before the second incident, in which he allegedly pulled a gun on someone else after ringing their doorbell.

Vang was a hard worker, a grandmother and “one of the kindest and most beautiful humans,” according to her obituary.

“Connie was the type of mom that would bring anybody in, feed them, give them a place to sleep, and send them off with $20 dollars in their pocket to ensure their welfare,” her obituary said. “She was the most caring and innocent soul.”

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