A woman who briefly dated the gunman behind the deadly shooting in Dayton, Ohio, early Sunday morning spoke of a series of disturbing encounters that ultimately led her to end their relationship this past May.
Caitlyn “Adelia” Johnson spoke to the Toledo Blade about her brief relationship with Connor Betts, who she met in a psychology class at Sinclair Community College. She told the newspaper that she initially found Betts “kind of charming,” and said he was outgoing and friendly.
But she quickly became aware of his apparent fascination with gun violence: He reportedly showed her footage of a mass shooting at a synagogue, and took her to a gun range on a date. Once when Betts was very drunk, he allegedly told Johnson he wanted to “to hurt a bunch of people,” but she didn’t take the threat seriously at the time.
“He was so drunk and I just figured he was mad at the world,” Johnson told the Toledo Blade. “I didn’t think he was at that point yet.”
But another incident did spook her enough to tell friends she was concerned about her safety.
Johnson told the newspaper that Betts had asked her to join him as he delivered a letter to a friend, but once they arrived at the home and found the friend’s parents in the yard, Betts reportedly became upset and did not want to deliver the letter, allegedly telling Johnson that he didn’t want anyone to know who wrote it. As it turned out, Johnson said, the friend was an ex-girlfriend Betts had dated two years prior. Betts reportedly told Johnson he had tracked down the woman’s current residence through a photo she had posted on Facebook, and wanted to let the ex know he knew where she lived.
Johnson told the newspaper that the letter said something to the effect of, “Welcome to the neighborhood. You can’t escape your past.”
Betts reportedly told Johnson he thought giving his ex the letter would be funny. Soon after, Johnson wrote in a message exchange with friends that she was worried Betts might hurt or stalk her as she had just ended the relationship. The Toledo Blade obtained a screenshot of the messages which show Johnson saying she was concerned because of his previous behavior towards other people.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Betts’ sister Megan Betts, 22, was among the nine people killed in the gun massacre in Dayton’s Oregon District Sunday morning. Johnson told the Toledo Blade that Betts had never spoken negatively about his sister, but that he appeared to dislike his parents.
According to the report, FBI agents arrived at Johnson’s apartment on Monday to speak to her about her relationship with Betts, interrupting the interview with a Toledo Blade reporter.
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