The Coroner who examined the body of Connor Betts, the 24-year-old man who shot and killed his sister, her boyfriend and seven others, before he himself was shot and killed by police in downtown Dayton earlier this month, was found to have cocaine, Xanax, alcohol and anti-depressants in his system, raising more questions about the role that mental health – and specifically, substance abuse – played in one of the latest high-profile mass shootings, according to the Washington Post.
He was also in possession of a bag of cocaine at the time of his death, per NBC News.
Mixing Xanax, a popular prescription benzodiazepine, with alcohol is known to cause blackouts in recreational drug users, which can sometimes lead to seriously negative consequences.
As two researchers who published their findings in the LA Times earlier this month pointed out, after studying the lives of mass shooters over the past few decades, they distilled a few characteristics that many mass shooters shared. Remember, drug abuse is an indicator of trauma and the possibility that one might be in crisis. – READ MORE