Top FBI official tells Congress they can’t access one of the Dayton gunman’s phones because they don’t have the passcode
- Authorities believe they have seized Dayton gunman Connor Betts’ main phone
- FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich told lawmakers on Wednesday that they can’t access the device because they don’t have the passcode
- He said that if Betts had a six or eight digit pin to unlock the phone, it could take months or years for the FBI to crack the code
- Betts was shot dead by police on Sunday about 30 seconds after he opened fire outside a busy bar, killing nine people – including his own sister
- The FBI has previously encountered issues with gaining access to a gunman’s phone, including the 2015 San Bernardino massacre
Authorities believe they have seized Dayton gunman Connor Betts’ main smartphone but they haven’t yet been able to investigate what is on the device because they can’t get access
A top FBI official has told Congress that they are having trouble accessing the Dayton gunman’s primary phone because they don’t have the passcode.
Authorities believe they have seized Connor Betts’ main smartphone but they haven’t yet been able to investigate what is on the device because they can’t get access.
FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich informed House Democrats of the situation during a conference call briefing on Wednesday, sources told The Hill.
Betts was shot dead by police on Sunday about 30 seconds after he opened fire outside a busy bar, killing nine people – including his own sister.
Investigators have since seized multiple devices belong to Betts but Bowdich told lawmakers that the FBI ‘can’t unlock’ one of them.
He said that if Betts had a six or eight digit pin to unlock the phone, it could take months or years for the FBI to crack the code.
‘We don’t know when we are going to get into the phone,’ Bowdich said.
Betts was shot dead by police on Sunday about 30 seconds after he opened fire outside a busy bar, killing nine people – including his own sister
It is not clear if the smartphone is an iPhone or an android.
Officials said they had managed to unlock another one of Betts’ devices – a Samsung phone.
They are still working to gather all of the gunman’s social media accounts and posts.
The FBI has previously encountered issues with gaining access to a gunman’s phone in the wake of mass shootings.
Agents filed a court case against Apple to try and force them to break into an iPhone belonging to one of the shooters in the 2015 San Bernardino massacre that left 14 dead.
The FBI also publicly pressured Apple to create software allowing authorities to access the phone.
They dropped their lawsuit before a judgement could be made after authorities managed to get access to the phone with the help of a private contractor.
Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in the 2015 San Bernardino massacre. The FBI filed a lawsuit against Apple to pressure them into giving access to Farook’s iPhone following the shooter