| Classmate Says Dayton Shooter Targeted Her in High School: ‘We Predicted He Would Do This’ Posted: 05 Aug 2019 11:54 AM PDT  Jessica Masseth was months into her sophomore year at Bellbrook High School in Ohio when she started getting disturbing text messages from a freshman named Connor Betts. Betts texted that Masseth was on his "rape list," describing in detail "what he wanted to do" to her, she said—even sending her the list of all of his proposed victims to prove she wasn't the only one. Finally, Masseth said she had enough and went to police. "I was not surprised at all when I heard his name on the news yesterday," she said. "We predicted he would do this 10 years ago." Early Sunday morning, authorities said Betts, 24, opened fire on a crowded Dayton street lined with bars and restaurants. Wearing body armor and carrying an assault-style rifle outfitted with a magazine carrying hundreds of rounds, he killed nine people, including his sister, and injured 26 others. Police killed him before he murdered more.Dayton Shooter Murdered Sister in Attack, Officials SayPolice said they do not have a motive for Betts' deadly rampage, but Masseth and other classmates said he expressed violent attitudes going back a decade.Word spread quickly in 2010 about the lists of 15 classmates he wanted to "rape or kill" in a notebook he carried around, Masseth said. "He had a kill list that was mostly guys and then a rape list that was mostly girls," Masseth said, adding that he also texted her the list to prove she was on it. "The lists basically had any girl who turned him down, any girl who thought they were above him, and any guy that was competition or was seen as a threat."Masseth, who said she was "not one of the popular girls," was shocked when she started to get Betts' texts naming her as one of the girls on his "rape list." The texts, she said, made it seem like Betts had a "God complex mixed with 'Iwantattention.'"Masseth said she doesn't even remember having a full conversation with him, but later heard rumors he was "attached to her.""In the texts, and on the lists, he talked about destruction and dismemberment. I mean how did the police not know he was going to do something like what he did this weekend?" she said. "Everyone knew he was not right."After "countless texts" and growing concern in school about the lists, Masseth said she finally told her father, who encouraged her to contact the authorities. Police officers pulled Betts off a school bus as they headed to school, a former classmate told The Washington Post. Masseth said police questioned Betts about the hit lists and he was suspended from school. The following year he returned to school, she said. When she graduated in 2012, Betts was still "not right." "He basically got a slap on the wrist," she said. "If he was only held accountable, this shooting would have never happened because he wouldn't have been able to buy any firearms. There are levels of failure here."Police declined to comment on the purported lists, citing the "ongoing investigation" into Betts' mass murder. Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said Sunday that Betts had no criminal record as an adult. Police said Betts arrived in Dayton's downtown entertainment district Saturday night in his father's car with with his younger sister, Megan, and a male acquaintance. Betts fatally shot his sister and wounded the acquaintance, who survived, police said. The acquaintance is not suspected to have played a role in the attack, officials say.Sometime around then, Betts crept through an alley before opening fire near a tattoo parlor before moving across the street toward a crowded line waiting to enter a bar. Just then, several police officers wielding pistols, a rifle, and a shotgun unloaded on Betts—and stopped him a split second before he stepped through the bar's open doors.Police said they are still investigating why Betts killed his sister and eight other people. Masseth said it is "still frightening" to learn he could have made good on his threat against her. "Everyone in high school knew what he was capable of, but there was a gap in getting Connor help because people just decided they didn't care," she said. "If people just cared a little more, none of this would have happened."The Mother Who Lost a Daughter to Her Son, the Mass MurdererRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Russia says it would respond to U.S. missile deployments in Asia Posted: 05 Aug 2019 05:51 AM PDT  Russia said on Monday it would take measures to defend itself if the United States stationed missiles in Asia following the collapse of a landmark arms control treaty and that it expected Japan to deploy a new U.S. missile launch system. U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper said on Saturday that he was in favour of placing ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia relatively soon.
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| India Scraps Kashmir's Long-Held Autonomy, Escalating Tensions Posted: 05 Aug 2019 02:57 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- India has revoked the special constitutional status of Kashmir in a move that's drawn protests in parliament and risks deepening the deteriorating security relationship with rival Pakistan in the disputed region.It took Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government just a couple of hours to erase seven decades of autonomous state government in Kashmir in a move analysts say is aimed at integrating a region that has been at center of its acrimonious relationship with Pakistan.President Ram Nath Kovind signed the law and Minister for Home Affairs, Amit Shah, announced the government's plan in parliament soon after. Lawmakers are now debating a proposal to split the state in two -- Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.Under Article 370 of the constitution, the state of Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed complete autonomy and the state legislature was free to draft its own laws except in the areas of communications, defense, finance, and foreign affairs, while Indian citizens were prohibited from purchasing land in the state.It was especially drafted in the 1950s after the kingdom of Kashmir agreed to join the Indian republic. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had pledged to scrap the article in its electoral manifestos of 2014 and 2019."Article 370 should have been revoked much earlier," Shah told the parliament. "But it needed political will. And the Modi government has the political will to do it."In the lead up to the controversial move, prominent political leaders in Indian-administered Kashmir were placed under house arrest and the Indian paramilitary forces deployed thousands of extra troops across the valley in one of the most widespread security crackdowns in recent years.India also evacuated thousands of tourists, students and pilgrims -- citing terrorist threats -- and has reportedly restricted phone and Internet services over the last 48 hours.The move goes beyond the right to buy land or live in Kashmir, Khalid Shah, Delhi-based fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, said by phone. "It shows that from now on the opinion of people won't matter. People's opinion about their own land doesn't matter," Shah said. "That's a scary situation for any democracy. My sense is that this will lead to long term political consequences and will prolong the conflict."India's rupee slid the most since December.'Regional Crisis'Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan warned in a tweet Sunday that India's "new aggressive actions" had "the potential to blow up into a regional crisis."Pakistan's foreign ministry said Monday any change in the fundamental situation in Kashmir would be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. "This latest escalation on the LoC by India is a matter of great concern for Pakistan," said ministry spokesman Muhammad Faisal.The Indian Army said on Sunday evening it had responded to an increase in cease fire violations and infiltration attempts along the line that divides Indian-controlled and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.Meanwhile, the move to place two of Kashmir's former chief ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, under house arrest at midnight further added to a sense of crisis in the state."I believe I'm being placed under house arrest from midnight tonight & the process has already started for other mainstream leaders," Abdullah tweeted.India's arrest of political leaders without an explanation is "unprecedented," Akhil Bery, South Asia analyst at risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said in an email."It has the potential to embolden Pakistan-based terrorists to begin ramping up attacks again," said Bery. "This also fits into Imran Khan's narrative that India is the one responsible for escalating the tensions -- he managed to convince President Trump of that and this is only going to support his message further."The Ministry of External Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the political crackdown.Last week, India rebuffed U.S. President Donald Trump's offer to mediate between the south Asian nation and Pakistan, which have long-running tensions centering on Kashmir, an area in the Himalayas claimed in full -- and ruled in part -- by both. In late February, Modi's government authorized airstrikes against Pakistan in response to a terrorist attack in Kashmir.The extra troop deployment came as thousands of devotees are on an annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave in the state that houses a shrine to the Hindu god Shiva. Since then, the pilgrimage has been curtailed and the devotees were asked to return home.(Updates with Amit Shah comment in fifth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Ismail Dilawar.To contact the reporters on this story: Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.net;Abhijit Roy Chowdhury in New Delhi at achowdhury11@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Unni KrishnanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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