A candlelight vigil for victims of the Dayton shooting rampage turned into an impassioned call for action as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s comments were drowned out by a crowd of mourners chanting, “Do something!”
Hundreds poured into Dayton’s Oregon District Sunday night where nine people were killed and 27 more injured early that morning — in the nation’s second mass shooting in a 13-hour span.
DeWine began his comments by pointing out the size of the crowd gathered at the vigil, saying that the teeming streets represented “the love and resiliency of this great and wonderful community,” local station WCMH reported.
Moments later, the chanting began — with a single voice yelling, “Do something!” It soon became a rallying cry, with more and more people joining in.
But DeWine continued speaking.
“What we do tonight, with this amazing crowd, is to say to [the victims and families], ‘We love you,’” he said, according to the station. “‘We care very, very deeply about you, and we will do everything that we can to tell you that we care.’”
The chants slightly died down, but did not completely stop. When Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley took the microphone, they were back in full-force, the outlet reported. She let them go on for a few seconds, but then tried to calm the crowd.
“I love you all, but remember this is a vigil tonight,” Whaley said. “This is a vigil for the people that we lost.”
The mayor added, “There will be time to take action, but let us come together as a community as we work to heal. We are here to heal tonight.”
Vigil attendee Cate Berger told the outlet she is “in a strange place personally.”
“Of course, I’m deeply sad but I’m angry,” she said. “Strangely comforting that there are others that feel that way. It’s overwhelming to feel that maybe no one cares.”
DeWine told local station WCPO that he has instructed his team to look at mental health issues in the wake of the shooting.
When it comes to restricting weapons, he told the outlet, “three things have to take place.”
“Number one, it has to be constitutional,” the governor said. “Number two, it has to pass in the state legislature. It does no good for me to come up with a plan if it can’t pass. And number three, it has to help. It has to work or improve the situation. If we can do all of those things, we ought to be doing it.”
Dayton gunman Connor Betts, 24, was shot and killed by hero cops after the massacre — in which he even gunned down his own sister.
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