Surveillance footage released by authorities shows the moment Betts, wearing a mask and body armor and armed with an assault rifle, was gunned down by officers who were nearby, patrolling the area as neighborhood bars began closing for the night.
Betts fell just outside the doorway of Ned Peppers Bar, where dozens of potential victims had fled for cover as the gunfire rang out.
Click here to watch the footage released by Dayton authorities. Warning: The footage shows the gunman's death and may be too graphic for some viewers.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday afternoon praised the professionalism, speed and courage with which police officers ended the bloodshed.
“We will never know how many lives were saved,” DeWine said at a news conference. “The assailant was obviously very, very close to being able to kill dozens and dozens more people.”
Watch Gov. Mike DeWine and other officials discuss the Dayton shooting below, courtesy of ABCNY.
Police officials released a little over two minutes of footage from the scene, the first portion of which shows the view from a surveillance camera just outside the bar. The video has no audio, but it is clear that the gunfire has already broken out.
A stream of panicked patrons duck, some looking back over their shoulders, and scramble to get inside the packed club. At one point, a man who appears to be a security guard is seen coming out and speaking into a radio before ducking back inside. He does not appear to be armed.
As stragglers run for cover, smoke appears to come from a car parked outside. It is unclear if the car was struck by gunfire.
About 25 seconds into the video, as one more man ducks inside, the gunman runs into view from the bottom right of the frame. At the same time, police officers can be seen in the top left of the frame.
>> Related story: Continuing coverage of the Ohio shooting that killed 9, injured dozens more
As the gunman, later identified as the 24-year-old Betts, runs around Ned Peppers' gated patio and toward the bar’s open doors, he is struck by police gunfire and falls. Betts struggles to get back to his feet but can’t. It is not clear if he is struck by any more police bullets before he becomes still.
Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl confirmed that Betts was struck multiple times.
The chief said Sunday that if Betts had made it into the bar, there would have been "catastrophic injuries."
Watch the chief discuss the preliminary findings of the investigation below, courtesy of WFTS in Tampa.
The suspected gunman was able to fire at least 41 rounds in the minute or so that he was firing the weapon before officers shot him, Biehl said Monday.
More silent footage from further down the street shows patrons enjoying themselves one second, and then running for cover the next as the gunfire erupts. Almost instantly, at least a half-dozen police officers can be seen responding, guns drawn and aimed at the threat off-camera.
The final bit of released footage shows a wide-angle view of the street. This time, the footage has audio. Though little of the chaos is seen in this footage, the dozens of gunshots that rang out Sunday morning can be heard.
Biehl said Betts, of Bellbrook, killed one victim in an alley next to Blind Bob's Bar, where he parked his 2007 Toyota Corolla, and then turned right on East Fifth Street and opened fire on the crowd milling around outside Ned Peppers.
The chief said Betts' sister, Megan Betts, was not his first victim, but was one of the initial victims killed as Connor Betts exited the alley onto East Fifth Street. A man with Megan Betts was also shot, but survived.
"The information we have is they all came in the same vehicle, but they separated at some point," Biehl said.
Biehl said Sunday that Connor Betts legally obtained the .223 caliber rifle he used in the massacre, which also sent at least 27 people to area hospitals for treatment of a range of injuries. The chief said the rifle was equipped with a double-drum magazine, which can hold 100 rounds.
Authorities said Betts also had a shotgun at the scene, but left that weapon in his car.
Biehl said Betts did not have a criminal record beyond traffic tickets, but former classmates and school administrators at Bellbrook High School told The Dayton Daily News that Betts was kicked out for making a list of girls he wanted to kill. Sources interviewed by the newspaper said Betts was suspended for a year after he wrote his hit list on a bathroom wall, triggering a lockdown of the school.
"I would not dispute that information, but I don't want to get involved any more than just making that comment," former Bellbrook High principal Chris Baker told the paper.
One of the girls whose name was on that list told the News Betts once told her he fantasized about tying her up and slicing her throat. Betts himself said he was scared of the thoughts about death and killing that he sometimes had, said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"He knew it wasn't normal," the woman said. "He and I talked at length about him getting help."
The woman said she and her parents told Bellbrook police officials about Betts’ comments, but were brushed off.
“This isn’t a mystery to me,” the woman said of the mass shooting. “I’m furious.”
Another classmate, Demoy Howell, told the News Betts was always an "oddball," making dark jokes about people dying. He said while he never had a problem with Betts, other friends and classmates confided that he made them uncomfortable.
Betts' motive for the massacre, which took place less than 24 hours after at least 22 people were gunned down at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, remains unclear.
“I think this is less of a hate crime and more of an ‘I hate everybody’ crime,” Howell told the paper. “I honestly feel more comfortable now, knowing he’s gone.”
>> Related story: Dayton, Ohio shooting victims: What we know
Those killed in Dayton have been identified as: Megan Betts, 22; Nicholas Cumer, 25; Thomas McNichols, 25; Lois Oglesby, 27; Logan Turner, 30; Beatrice Warren Curtis, 36; Sayeed Seleh, 38; Monica Brickhouse, 39; and Derek Fudge, 57.
All of the officers involved in the confrontation with Betts have been placed on administrative leave while the officer-involved shooting is investigated. According to WHIO, the officers have been identified as:
Sgt. William C. Knight, sworn in Feb. 14, 1997
Officer Brian Rolfes, sworn in April 8, 2016
Officer Jeremy Campbell, sworn in Aug. 5, 2016
Officer Vincent Carter, sworn in April 8, 2016
Officer Ryan Nabel, sworn in April 8, 2016
Officer David Denlinger, sworn in April 8, 2016
It was not known Monday morning which officer’s bullets killed Betts or how many times he was shot.
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