Historic Dayton Daily News front pages: The arrest of a notorious serial killer

The Dayton Daily News is noting its 120th anniversary with a weekly series of stories about some of the most historic front pages in its history. Today’s story: The arrest of Neal Bradley Long, Dayton’s most notorious racial serial killer. 


He killed at least four people. The last of those came at the old federal building in downtown Dayton.

The Dayton Daily News was there to cover the eventual arrest of the city’s most notorious racial serial killer, Neal Bradley Long.

Long was on the Daily News front page on Sept. 20, 1975, the day after he was arrested for the shooting death of Dr. Charles A. Glatt, the architect of Dayton schools’ desegregation plan, in the federal courthouse. In the image, he is walking into court led by Chief Marshal Earl Pelfrey.

In the days that followed, Long’s story came to light. He was connected to deaths of numerous black people over several summer caused by a suspect the media called the Shotgun Slayer or the Midnight Slayer.

From a 1999 Dayton Daily News article on Long:

Citizens held all-night vigils and organizations and companies offered a $10,000 reward for information about the Shotgun Slayer.

Black leaders asked the city to declare a state of emergency and got 20 police radios to start a citizen patrol operation.

Dayton police became desperate to solve the case, and asked for help from the FBI, which declined.

"Nobody wanted this man - a very dangerous racist - on the street ever again," said James Brogan, who prosecuted the state's case. "If he hadn't shot Glatt in broad daylight, I don't know how long this would have gone on."

Long's hold on Dayton ended 2:45 p.m., Sept. 19, 1975, when he shot Glatt.

The arrest was huge news in Dayton, and it took over the Dayton Daily News front page:

Timeline of Neal Bradley Long's shooting spree

(Note: This timeline first published in a Dayton Daily News story on Long on July 19, 1999)

• Aug. 21, 1972: Eddie Freson dodged Long's bullets by ducking under Long's car after using the phone booth.

• Sept. 26, 1973: Long shot and killed Edward Tillman at 1:30 a.m., while driving through the Germantown and Greencastle intersection.

• He fired shots at James Watts' vehicle while they chased each other.

• May 23, 1975: He trolled the Kumler and Norwood area and shot into a birthday party crowd, hitting George Ingram in the right hand.

• July 15, 1975: Murdered Larry Romine, 27, near his home on Englewood Ave.

• Killed Robert Hoard, 21, of 608 Cincinnati St., by shooting him twice in the back while he took the trash out.

• Attempted to kill Leonard Goff, but hit Goff's girlfriend Glenda Gay, 20, in the shoulder. Goff also was injured in the hand.

• Sept. 19, 1975: Murdered Dr. Charles Glatt, a desegregation planner for Dayton schools, in the former federal building at 118 W. Third St.

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