Dayton Shooting: Area nurse recalls night of horror, timely words, good works

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Nurse Sheila Stanifer realized what was happened seconds after she heard what turned out to be gunshots in the Oregon District early on the morning of Sunday, Aug. 4.

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"I heard a man's voice say 'everybody get down,' " Stanifer told News Center 7 on Monday night.

She and about two-dozen others on the patio at Blind Bob's got under tables. Within 30 seconds, Dayton police had fatally wounded the shooter, 24-year-old Connor Betts.

Stanifer headed onto East Fifth Street, looking to help who she could. She found one woman, suffering from a gunshot wound to her head.

"She was conscious, I was elevating her legs to prevent shock, and we asked a gentleman off the street if they could give us a blanket - they took their jackets and their shirts off and they covered her up and the Marine and I took turns adding compression to her head," Stanifer said.

Medics took the woman to a hospital, where she is recovering.

A week and two days later, Stanifer said she's continuing to deal with what happened, saddened by the two men she saw on the ground who died of their gunshot wounds.

She wants to meet the man who told everyone on the patio at Blind Bob's to get down. His action saved lives, she said, and she wants to thank him.

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