The former girlfriend of the man who murdered nine people in Dayton, Ohio, early Sunday morning spoke out about their relationship on Tuesday.
Adelia Johnson was interviewed by NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez on Today. She said she dated the 24-year-old shooter for a couple of months, but the relationship ended months ago.
“This isn’t about race. This isn’t about religion. It’s none of those things. This is a man who is in pain and didn’t get the help that he needed,” she said. “People go every day being perfectly fine with having a mental illness, me included. And he just — he got the short end of the stick. The support system.”
Johnson later said that on their first date, the shooter showed her a video of a mass shooting and that he later took her to a gun range. He also was a part of a heavy metal band whose lyrics were sexually violent.
The shooter was killed by police after killing nine people in less than a minute, six of whom were African American. Police have not found a race component in his motives.
