Ten people, including suspected assailant, killed in Dayton, Ohio shooting

An assailant armed with a rifle opened fire in a downtown district of Dayton, Ohio, early on Sunday killing nine people and wounding at least 16 others in the second deadly mass shooting in the United States in less than a day.

Police said they intervened to end the violence, leaving the shooter dead.

Assistant Police Chief Matt Carper said the incident began at 1 a.m. local time in Dayton’s Oregon District, a downtown historic neighbourhood known for its nightclubs, bars, art galleries and shops.

“Just after one o’clock this morning we had an active shooter situation in the Oregon district, part of our downtown area on the 400 block of East Fifth Street. We had one shooter that we are aware of and multiple victims. Right now the shooter is deceased from gunshot wounds from the responding officers,” Carper said.

He also noted that the motive behind the shooting was not immediately clear and that investigators believed the individual had acted alone.

Officers who were on patrol in the area reached the scene shortly after the shooting began to confront the shooter, whose identity, age or gender were not immediately disclosed.

A total of 10 people were killed, including the assailant. Sixteen others were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.

“This is a very tragic incident and we are doing everything we can to investigate it and try to identify the motivation behind this.“Carper added.

FBI agents were assisting in the investigation.

The Dayton Daily News said the shooting occurred at or near an establishment called Ned Peppers Bar.

The newspaper cited a Facebook post from a person identifying himself as someone who was at the bar at the time who said the shooting happened in front of a patio area just outside the establishment.

At least nine people are dead and 16 people injured in a shooting in Dayton, Ohio, police say. The shooter is dead. https://t.co/auQCJWmRRp pic.twitter.com/UZHuWOeYdm

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) August 4, 2019

The shooting in Dayton, a riverfront city of about 140,000 people in southwestern Ohio, followed the mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, where 20 were killed and 26 others wounded on Saturday morning.