Before being shot and killed by police Sunday just after 1 a.m., a 24-year-old Bellbrook man killed nine women and men ranging from age 22 and 57.
An additional 30 people were injured during the mass shooting and sought medical care.
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We asked current and former Miami Valley residents to share what they think the world should know about the people, places and things that make Dayton so special.
HERE IS A SAMPLING OF RESPONSES FROM FACEBOOK:
Alex Perry — Dayton is not just a city, it is a community. Colorful, interesting and inspiring. We are creative, hard working and innovative. We know when it's time to lend our neighbors a hand, which I believe makes us uniquely patriotic.
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Libby Ballengee — We are about as rock'n'roll as it gets.
JoJo E Doss — A place of major innovation.
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Shannon Joyce Neal — And not just in the past!! We have so many people developing cool technology right now, not just at Wright-Patt but at small businesses and start-ups.
Tre Hogue — We love our hometown heroes like Paul Laurence Dunbar, Zapp, and Bruce Banner.
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Laura LS — We will not be broken.
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Val Hunt Beerbower (see video below)
Jason Wright — Good stuff! Mikesells potato chips, Esther Price candy, Carillon Park, the bicycle shop that led to the airplane, the electric starter for cars, drag queens, Dayton Dragons, Christopher's restaurant, Pine Club, Air Force Base, the great mayor, the Schuster Center, Dayton Art Institute, Nancy Cartwright..... To name a few 🙂
Eric Brockman — We are featured in the international art publication ArtDaily today!
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Millie Smith — Dayton The World Capital of Funk — The Ohio Players. Lakeside. Slave. Heatwave. Junie Morrison. Faze-O.Dayton. Sun. Platypus. Roger & Zapp ....... #DaytonStrong
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Heather Roberts — We are the big city to all the small-town kids, where they come for their first art & theater performance from schools. Where they see their first tall and shiny buildings, independent from their families. The place everyone in the Miami Valley goes to for concerts, culture, and their first night out at 18 & 21.
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Jill Kelley — Many of us have grown up and/or lived on the coast and prefer to live where we can enjoy a great cost of living, few traffic jams, expansive green space, easy access to big cities like Chicago and Nashville when we choose, and wonderful people.
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Janea I... — Well for starters, in Dayton you don't need to spend $2.3 million to live in a 4-bedroom, 2-bath house with a garage and a fenced yard in a decent neighborhood. Not only that but we have multiple options for barbecue. MULTIPLE!!
Katlin Meredith — I describe Dayton as funky and gritty — in the best sense of those words. No pretension, Midwest nice, tattooed creatives drinking local beer, listening to good live music while someone paints a mural of people's cats nearby. We're the home of funk and we've got grit to get through anything.
Jim Ingram — That we're not Toledo.
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Carol Bouffioux — Ah. The coasts. We don't have an ocean view, but my gosh-we have so much! The Levitt, MetroParks, arts, food (in trucks & restaurants), music all over the dang place, the stars are still visible on clear nights, people dance sometimes in the aisles at Kroger, we wave as we give each other the right of way on a crowded neighborhood street. We turn out by the 1000s when we hurt, by the 1000s to dance & bounce & raise a glass at multiple cultural festivals. We have been nationally recognized as an Immigrant Friendly City. We acknowledge our problems, we speak up, and we try to do better. ❤️
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Teri Schoch — Please don't tell them we have so much good water. for drinking and recreation. They may show up and ruin our secret source of joy.
Credit: Jim Witmer
Credit: Jim Witmer
Deb Lukjanovs — That no matter what you want to do, whether it's a lecture, a funk concert, an art exhibit, or any number of other pursuits, on any given day of any week, you can find something great to do in Dayton. And usually free or at a low cost. Culturally, for a town Dayton's size, this city is without peer.
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Rhonda Moore — We are the "Gem City" We have a great police department.
Other tidbits:
Dayton is the birthplace of famous people including actors Martin Sheen, Chad Lowe, Nancy Cartwright, Jonathan Winters, Gordon Jump, Gary Sandy, Dorian Harewood, Olympian Edwin C. Moses and other athletes including Roger Clemens and Cris Collinsworth.
The first talk show with audience participation started here with Phil Donahue ( before there was an Oprah).
Heatwave, Zapp, Roger, Ohio Players, Lakeside, Slave and Sun are some of the local bands from here that made it on the national stage.
Oh and I was born and raised here😊
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Roberta Kuhn Loman — Great place for all ages and interests.
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