Chilling video shows Dayton gunman Connor Betts in bar in the hours before shooting

Security footage shows Connor Betts’ final moments inside a Ohio bar just before he opened fire outside another bar and killed nine victims including his sister.

Betts spent more than an hour at a bar called Blind Bob’s – just a moments walk away from Ned Peppers Bar where he opened fire later that night. Video, obtained by CNN, showed him arrive with a woman who appears to be his sister Megan and a third person believed to be his best friend Charles ‘Chase’ Beard shortly after 11pm.

Betts, 24, who appears unarmed in the clip and is seen in normal clothing including a T- shirt, shorts and sneakers, was then seen leaving the bar without his friend or sister at 12.13am.

Less than an hour later, police received reports that he had armed  himself with an AR-15 and 250 rounds of ammunition, and donned body armor and a mask, before opening fire on revelers at Ned Peppers. 

He was shot dead by cops about 30 seconds after he opened fire. 

Chilling footage shows Ohio gunman inside Blind Bob’s bar before he opened fire and killed nine people including his sister outside Ned Peppers Bar on Saturday night 

This undated photo provided by the Dayton Police Department shows Connor Betts. The 24-year-old masked gunman in body armor opened fire on August 4 in a popular entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio

This undated photo provided by the Dayton Police Department shows Connor Betts. The 24-year-old masked gunman in body armor opened fire on August 4 in a popular entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio

He and Megan Betts appeared to have been standing outside Ned Peppers when Betts opened fire.

Megan was killed in the shooting. Beard was critically injured in the shooting and remains in hospital.  

Footage from Blind Bobs shows Connor Betts walking in first, at 11.09pm Saturday, as he is asked for ID and is later given a wristband. 

He then waits for Beard and Megan Betts to enter and is seen on camera moving to the patio area and then back inside the bar.

Dayton police claimed that they spoke to Charles Beard and said there is no information to suggest he or Betts’ sister were aware that he had weapons, according to CNN. 

A law enforcement source told CNN that Connor Betts had parked his car in the vicinity at around 11 pm. They claimed that he went to Blind Bob’s with his sister and Beard before the shooting.

About an hour after he entered the premises at 12.13am, he is seen stopping by the entrance, and leaves after speaking with staff at the door.

Charles 'Chase' Beard

Megan Betts

Charles ‘Chace’ Beard (left) was a high school friend of Connor Betts. He drove with Betts and his sister Megan, (right),  to Dayton from their home of Bellbrook – but Betts shot both of them, killing his own sister and wounding Beard. Footage obtained by CNN shows the three of them inside another bar 

The latest CCTV footage obtained by CNN shows a man believed to be Betts with his sister and friend in Blind Bob's bar at around 11.09 om ET on Saturday night

The latest CCTV footage obtained by CNN shows a man believed to be Betts with his sister and friend in Blind Bob’s bar at around 11.09 om ET on Saturday night

A law enforcement source told CNN that Connor Betts had parked his car in the vicinity at around 11 pm

A law enforcement source told CNN that Connor Betts had parked his car in the vicinity at around 11 pm

Beard and Megan Betts remain in the bar for around 45 minutes before they are seen leaving at around 12.59am, in new information which was reported by CNN on Tuesday night. 

The first 911 calls came in at around 1.06am on Sunday night to report a shooting in the popular nightlife district.   

Officials said on Monday that Betts separated from the other two ‘later in the evening.’

Officials are trying to piece together what Betts did between the time he left his sister and his friend and before he started shooting.

A map shows that Blind Bob’s bar is around a one minute walk to Ned Pepper’s bar, which is where the shooting occurred.  

A worker at Blind Bob’s told CNN that Betts had visited the bar before and used his credit card to pay for his tabs.

Employees claimed they saw him at the bar earlier on Satruday night and also Friday night.  

Dayton police would not confirm to CNN who the people were in the footage, but said in a statement: ‘Through our investigation, we are aware the suspect did frequent bars in the Oregon District on a regular basis.’

About an hour after he entered the premises at 12.13 am, he is seen stopping by the entrance, and leaves after speaking with staff at the door

About an hour after he entered the premises at 12.13 am, he is seen stopping by the entrance, and leaves after speaking with staff at the door

About an hour after he entered the premises at 12.13 am, he is seen stopping by the entrance, and leaves after speaking with staff at the door

About an hour after he entered the premises at 12.13 am, he is seen stopping by the entrance, and leaves after speaking with staff at the door

As the sole survivor of the car journey with Betts and a witness to the moments leading up to the atrocity, Beard could hold the key to why Betts embarked on his killing spree.

He was critically ill in the hospital in Dayton Monday but has been been speaking to police.

Federal investigators will try to determine what ideologies influenced 24-year-old Connor Betts, who might have helped him or knew in advance of his plan, and why he chose the specific target of Dayton’s Oregon entertainment district for the shooting.

Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said Betts had ‘violent ideations that include mass shootings and had expressed a desire to commit a mass shooting’.

Connor Betts, 24, massacred nine people, including his 22-year-old sister Megan Betts, with an assault rifle at about 1am on Sunday in a section of the city known for its nightlife.

Connor Betts, 24, massacred nine people, including his 22-year-old sister Megan Betts, with an assault rifle at about 1am on Sunday in a section of the city known for its nightlife.

Charles Beard, (pictured), was critically ill in the hospital in Dayton Monday but has been been speaking to police.

Charles Beard, (pictured), was critically ill in the hospital in Dayton Monday but has been been speaking to police.

Special Agent Todd Wickerham, the head of the FBI’s Cincinnati field office, said Betts had not been on the FBI’s radar. 

He declined to discuss what specific ideologies might be linked to Betts’ actions but said there was no evidence so far that they were racially motivated.

Meanwhile, public conversation around the shooting shifted towards how to address people with mental health issues who might pose a threat of violence, as a woman who briefly dated the gunman recounted their bonding over struggles with mental illness and the governor called for more mental health support along with gun safety measures.

Investigators have not publicly offered a motive for why Betts, wearing a mask and body armour, opened fire with an AR-15 style gun outside a strip of nightclubs in Dayton early on Sunday, killing his sister and eight others before officers shot him dead less than 30 seconds into his rampage.

A woman who said she briefly dated him earlier this year wrote in an online essay that Betts had ‘dark thoughts’ including about wanting to hurt people. 

Adelia Johnson, 24, said they met in a college psychology class and bonded over dealing with mental illness, which she said allowed Betts to open up to her.

Adelia Johnson, (pictured),who said she briefly dated him earlier this year, wrote in an online essay that Betts had 'dark thoughts' including about wanting to hurt people

Adelia Johnson, (pictured),who said she briefly dated him earlier this year, wrote in an online essay that Betts had ‘dark thoughts’ including about wanting to hurt people 

A mourner places flowers at a memorial to those killed in Sunday Morning's mass shooting in the Oregon District on August 06 in Dayton, Ohio

A mourner places flowers at a memorial to those killed in Sunday Morning’s mass shooting in the Oregon District on August 06 in Dayton, Ohio

Johnson said she was in treatment but that Betts ‘didn’t want to seek help because of the stigma.’ He told her he thought he had mental illnesses including bipolar disorder, she said.

‘When he started joking about his dark thoughts, I understood,’ she wrote. ‘Dark thoughts for someone with a mental illness are just a symptom that we have to learn how to manage.’

Johnson said on their first date, Betts showed her a video of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. She said Betts had ‘uncontrollable urges’ that she called ‘red flags’ which eventually led her to call things off in May.

When she broke up with him, she said she reached out to his mother to express her concern.

It’s unknown whether any of the Dayton victims were targeted. Besides Betts’ sister Megan, 22, the others who died were Monica Brickhouse, 39; Nicholas Cumer, 25; Derrick Fudge, 57; Thomas McNichols, 25; Lois Oglesby, 27; Saeed Saleh, 38; Logan Turner, 30; and Beatrice N. Warren-Curtis, 36.

Betts was white and six of the nine killed were black, but police said the speed of the rampage made any discrimination in the shooting seem unlikely.

Hospital officials said 37 people have been treated for injuries, including 14 with gunshot wounds.

The shooting and another mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, over the weekend left 31 people dead and more than 50 injured in less than 24 hours.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk