Dionne Sneed, 46, remained in stable condition Monday at the intensive care unit at Miami Valley Hospital after being shot in the mouth Friday by her boyfriend, 44-year-old David Hall. Sneed was reportedly confronted by Hall in the parking lot of the Dollar General store on West Third Street in Trotwood. Video surveillance showed the pair having what seemed to be a cordial conversation for several minutes before Hall pulled out the weapon, identified as a 9mm Mack-10 sub machine gun, and shot Sneed “at point-blank range,” said Capt. John Porter with Trotwood police.
Hall then drove to his cousin’s home on Whitmore Avenue in Dayton where he eventually shot one round into the ground and then shot himself in the mouth. He was pronounced dead at Miami Valley Hospital Friday afternoon. Porter said ballistics are still being completed to confirm the gun Hall used on himself was the same one he used to shoot Sneed. However, he confirmed that Hall could not legally own a Mack-10 because it’s an automatic weapon.
Police believe the shooting was an attempted murder/suicide, even though Porter said detectives haven’t found a note indicating such, nor have they spoken to witnesses who said Hall intended to shoot Sneed. Witnesses said the two may have broken up, and Sneed asked Hall to move out of their home on Gettysburg Avenue in Dayton.
Hall may also have been “on the edge,” Porter said, because he was part of a federal investigation into drug-related crimes. Local police learned federal authorities issued a warrant for Hall. Hall does have prior felony convictions for cocaine-related offenses, according to court records.
Cassondra Smith, one of Sneed’s co-workers at Dollar General, described her as a kind person and said employees are hoping to get Sneed on a financial assistance program after she is released from the hospital.
UPDATE@3:16 p.m. (July 6):
The shooting victim has been identified as Dionne Sneed, 46, of Dayton, police said Monday afternoon.
When paramedics arrived at the scene, Sneed informed them that her boyfriend, later identified as David Hall, shot her, Trotwood police said during a press conference. Hall shot Sneed at point blank range in the face and mouth area, officers said.
After the attack on Sneed, Hall reportedly fled to his cousin’s house in the 400 block of Whitmore. When the cousin and her husband arrived at home, Hall threatened to kill himself with the submachine gun, police said.
He then walked to the side of the house, fired a round into the ground before shooting himself in the mouth. He was later pronounced dead at Miami Valley Hospital.
Sneed underwent surgery after the shooting and is listed in stable conditon at Miami Valley Hospital; she’s not been able to talk with police.
The case remains under investigation.
UPDATE @ 11:46 a.m. July 4
The Dollar General store in Trotwood where an employee was shot in the face in the parking lot Friday by her estranged boyfriend is back open this July 4. Employees said they could not comment on how their colleague was doing.
The woman remains hospitalized. Our calls to Trotwood police to check on the woman’s identity and condition have not been returned. At last report, the woman was in critical condition at Miami Valley Hospital.
UPDATE @ 9:50 p.m. July 3
The man who shot his estranged girlfriend outside the Dollar General in Trotwood is 44-year-old David Hall, of Dayton, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday.
UPDATE @ 6:05 p.m.:
The female cashier shot in the face outside the Dollar General in Trotwood was wounded by her boyfriend, who about a half-hour later shot himself to death less than two miles away in the 400 block of Whitmore Avenue in Dayton, Trotwood police Capt. John Porter said.
The 46-year-old woman was in critical condition at Miami Valley Hospital, he said.
Porter said the preliminary investigation reveals she was leaving work when the 44-year-old man identified as her estranged boyfriend confronted her outside the store, in the 5900 block of West Third Street, pulled out a handgun and fired once, hitting her in the face.
He drove from the scene and was found in a yard at 404 Whitmore Ave. suffering from a possible self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Porter said. Witnesses said the man fired one shot into the ground and a second one into his mouth and head. He was pronounced dead at Miami Valley Hospital.
A Dollar General employee called 911 just after 3 p.m. to report the shooting.
“One of our cashiers just got shot in our parking lot,” the caller told a Montgomery County dispatcher. “She was right in front of the store.”
The 911 caller said the woman was shot in her face, but conscious. The suspect was described as a heavyset black male, possibly the woman’s boyfriend. The victim said she had some sort of problem with her boyfriend, the caller told a dispatcher.
Porter, at a news conference, said police are continuing to investigate how long the man and woman had been estranged or whether he was lying in wait outside the store. Investigators will interview witnesses and review surveillance video, Porter said.
Dayton police are handling the Whitmore Avenue part of the investigation, he said, noting that investigators have to determine whether the man lived at the address where he died.
Porter declined to release the names of the man and woman until their families are notified.
UPDATE @ 4:10 p.m.
A Dollar General store employee called 911 to report a shooting this afternoon.
“One of our cashiers just got shot in our parking lot,” the caller told dispatchers. “She was right in front of the store.”
The 911 caller said the woman was possibly shot in her face, but she was conscious. The caller described the suspect as a heavyset man who left in a vehicle.
FIRST REPORT
A woman was reportedly shot this afternoon in the parking lot of a Dollar General store.
Trotwood police and Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies used yellow crime scene tape to block the parking lot at 5997 W. Third St. following the shooting reported around 3 p.m.
The woman was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.
According to initial reports, the victim said she was shot by her boyfriend. The suspect fled in a white and blue Lincoln.