Friends Say that Sibling Murdered by Dayton Shooter Was a Transgender Man

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://splinternews.com/friends-say-that-sibling-murdered-by-dayton-shooter-was-1837035664

Accounts from friends and social media profiles belonging to a victim in last weekend’s shooting in Dayton, OH, whose name was previously reported as Megan Betts, indicate that Betts was a transgender man who went by Jordan Cofer and used he/him pronouns.

According to media reports, Cofer, 22, was the sibling of shooting suspect Connor Betts, and was the first victim in the mass shooting in Dayton’s Oregon district that left nine dead and 27 wounded. It appears that Cofer was out as a trans man to only a handful of people, and there is no indication at this time that his gender identity was a motivating factor in his death.

A close friend of Cofer’s—who wished to remain anonymous—confirmed the authenticity of several social media accounts to Splinter, saying that he was trans and preferred being called Jordan.

“Jordan was my closest friend,” said the friend over Twitter direct message. “He identified with he/him pronouns to people he trusted and knew would support him. Jordan was probably one of the sweetest people you would ever meet, a true saint, but he was also very scared constantly. He tried to give the best to everyone.”

[Corgigal]

1. Oh,

Damn it. His (her) brother couldn't understand nor accept.

POS Narcissist.

Non surprise, here.

[murielm99]

2. Are we sure about this?

Are there other sources?

[FM123]

28. LGBTQ magazine The Advocate is also reporting the same thing.

https://www.advocate.com/news/2019/8/07/report-sibling-killed-dayton-shooting-was-trans-man-jordan-cofer

[cwydro]

38. Last week I saw DUers reporting that the sister was dating a black man.

And that Betts was jealous and racially pissed off. All fucking made up crap. That DUer never came back and apologized.

When I see things reported by a reputable news source, then ok.

[OilemFirchen]

3. Bullshit.

Everything in this OP is false.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Say more?

[OilemFirchen]

16. You outta be embarrassed.

That enough?

[LanternWaste]

10. Is this you "Hoping not to sound facile..." again?

[OilemFirchen]

17. Huh?

[obamanut2012]

12. Why is this BS?

[OilemFirchen]

19. 1) She was not the first killed.

2) Good friend's grandchildren went to school with her... prior to Sunday A.M.

[Sapient Donkey]

23. The article did say very few people knew.

So, it's possible your sources simply were unaware. It is possible this is "BS" as you put it, but to say with such certainty seems a bit premature. It could be either way. I don't see why it matters anyway. I mean, unless somehow they find some direct evidence he killed this person over this fact. Although, I don't think there is anything to suggest that's the case.

**edit** jberryhill's post below about the author might explain your tone. I am going to keep what I wrote out of transparency.

[OilemFirchen]

30. I haven't read anything about the author. I don't give a shit.

My "tone" stems from the frustration I've experienced since I fist started posting about this shooting early Sunday.

I've stated that I live two blocks from the Oregon District. That I know many of the shop, restaurant and bar owners - some for at least four decades. That my S.O. works in the Trauma Unit at Miami Valley Hospital. That, HIPPA notwithstanding, I know about the population, placement, and condition of the remaining patients. That, though I wasn't at liberty to give specifics, I knew of Trump's itinerary the day before he arrived.

On prior threads, I've spoken at length about being born in and spending the vast majority of my life in Dayton. I've owned businesses here since 1983.

I've not mentioned the many hours I've spent in the District since Sunday, much of it reminiscing with shop owners who are absolutely shattered, because I've spent all that time away from the Internet.

Nonetheless, I've learned that Dayton is a lily-white city (it isn't). That the gunman was targeting black people (he wasn't). That the bar is a "black" bar (it isn't). That the gunman was upset that his sister was dating a black man (there's no evidence of that). That the media and/or Trump team chose not to visit the black patients (there aren't any). Some, if not most of this was coming from reputable media. So forgive me for calling bullshit on an unsourced bucket of sputum from a fringe publication.

FTR, I've been completely ignored. I don't care. But it says something about much of the DU community, including, in no uncertain terms, this fucked up OP.

[obamanut2012]

35. Good God, you are hostile about a murdered transman

WTAF.

[OilemFirchen]

46. Ya know, if you wanna hector me, one bleat is fine.

When this story is debunked, will you apologize for your hostility toward a heterosexual woman?

[Sapient Donkey]

53. I get your point about jumping to conclusions. I find that frustrating too

I haven't seen what you're talking about with this specific case, but I often times point out if I feel people are jumping to conclusions based on minimal or unconfirmed information. Hence why I was unsure either way with this particular instance of the person gender. I didn't see anything to suggest either way, and coming down hard on either side seemed premature to me. Despite the author's history of claims she fabricates/embellishes/lie/etc, in this case it appears that others have confirmed that the victim was trans. I actually said in my previous post that either way it shouldn't matter, but really it does matter to trans people. I didn't think of how all the articles and reports were using a name and gender they didn't want to go by, or at least that its likely they would want to be known as.

Anyway, there are several more mainstream outlets that confirmed this. A search of the name and trans will produce those results on google.

I will take issue with anyone who uses this to assume the motive of the killer was transphobia. We would need more than this fact to claim that, but even the author of the original article stated there is nothing to point in that direction.

[obamanut2012]

34. You are misgendering and deadnaming

And doing it on purpose. You should be ashamed of yourself.

You misgendered TWICE. WTF is wrong with you?!

[FreeState]

44. This n/t

[cwydro]

39. See my post 38.

Getting tired of fake news around here.

[OilemFirchen]

47. I'm just tired.

Period.

[cwydro]

51. I am so with you.

Trashing this thread.

[stopdiggin]

5. this doesn't tie in particularly well

Not sure if this sheds and particular light. Although there doesn't seem to be anything really COHERENT in any of this individuals motives or beliefs.

no indication at this time that his gender identity was a motivating factor in his death.

Couple other points: Victim was clearly identified as female at scene. Victim was not thought to be "out" as trans to family. And the shooter was also reported to have a "good" relationship with his sister (/brother). So there didn't appear to be issues.

(perhaps just one very lost soul?)

[Archae]

6. Unless a credible source like ABC or MSNBC confirms this, I don't believe it.

This "source" sounds like the National Enquirer.

[jberryhill]

8. About the author...

https://medium.com/@jesse.singal/so-about-that-katelyn-burns-thread-58c736647bc9

[2020Junker]

18. Drama llamas for clicks

I have a Twitter account but never engage on it. Things like this are why. Newp newp newp!

She seems like an absolutely lovely person and not at all someone who would create things out of whole cloth to draw attention to herself.

[tblue37]

29. When posting a link to Medium, always remove the @ from the URL:

https://medium.com/jesse.singal/so-about-that-katelyn-burns-thread-58c736647bc9

If you leave in the @ the link is to the Medium homepage, not to the article itself.

[obamanut2012]

13. Splinter is not a "source," it is written by journalists

[Archae]

15. Apparently, a "journalist" who is a stinking liar.

Look above.

[jberryhill]

7. Wtf is "splinternews.com"?

Is that a site you read a lot?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. It's part of Gizmodo Media (the Onion, the Root, Deadspin, etc.) and focuses on politics, Trump

Last edited Thu Aug 8, 2019, 06:40 PM - Edit history (1)

current events and labor. I read it and its sibling sites quite a bit.

[obamanut2012]

11. There is nothing wrong with Splinter

Can be a bit gossipy and pro one candidate on the D side, but they are actual journalists.

[obamanut2012]

14. This checks out, including his twitter feed

Where he was actually tweeting at his brother.

There is nothing at all wrong with Splinter, Jezebel, Deadspin, etc. Many, many of the writers are journalists, and their writers are heavily recruited by more traditional news outlets.

Anna Merlan and Diana Moskovitz are just two excellent investigative reporters on the Gawker Media staff.

[Archae]

20. "Splinter" is a far-left aggregate that repeats blogs.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/splinter/

[WhiskeyGrinder]

21. Lmaoooooo at "far left."

[MineralMan]

22. I never heard of splinternews.com

I'm not sure I trust news from that site.

[Archae]

24. I wouldn't.

They are far-left, and repeat blogs.

Above is a Twitter conversation with the author of the OP, and she is a damn liar.

[MineralMan]

26. Well, I don't know that the information is wrong.

I don't know it's right, either, so I'll wait to find out. It doesn't matter, really. That person is a dead victim now.

[obamanut2012]

33. They are not "far left" -- and the Gawker reporters do a lot of first-rate reporting

Including Splinter, Deadspin, and Jezebel.

And, even if they were "far left," so fucking what?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

25. I'm taking it with a grain of salt for the time being.

It is better than an anonymous unverified Twitter account, but I don't know how much better to be honest.

We'll see if anyone else verifies or shots this down.

[cwydro]

42. I sure as hell won't click on it.

As I posted elsewhere, DUers here were saying the sister was dating a black man, therefore the shooter was incensed.

That does not seem to be true. Sometimes this site....

[Zoonart]

27. The ADVOCATE has picked this up

and have a source beyond Splinter:
https://www.advocate.com/news/2019/8/07/report-sibling-killed-dayton-shooting-was-trans-man-jordan-cofer

[dawg day]

31. Here is his Instagram account-

https://www.instagram.com/jordanseansmith107/
Also his Twitter- https://twitter.com/jordandaroomie
Jordan Cofer

A couple of the photos are the same as have been released earlier of "Megan Betts". Also it refers to "The Smokejumper Center" == the victim had worked as a former tour guide at the Smokejumper Visitor Center in Missoula, Montana.

Perhaps this is why the FBI got involved and was quick to say it probably wasn't "racial" but also didn't say it wasn't a hate crime.

Could the killer have actually driven to the area with his brother Jordan and then gone back and got his gun and come back and shot Jordan and others in line at the club? Jordan was apparently the first person shot.

[dawg day]

32. Jordan's accounts, btw, are longstanding

And there are followers and people he was following-- that is, no one invented these pages the other day.

[LisaL]

36. What do you mean by "could have?"

It has been reported that they all drove there together (the killer, his sibling, and another man who was actually a friend of the killer).

[dawg day]

40. I think I meant could he have actually done this friendly/brotherly thing-- driven together-

And then done this. It's just a shock-- he must have been planning it to have the gun there, and yet he was able to sit in the car and act naturally and not set off any suspicions in the other two in the car. It seems -- I keep falling back on the word "inhuman", but I guess it's actually a human if horrible way to be.

[LisaL]

48. That's pretty much a given.

It has been reported the three of them (the killer, his sibling, and another man) went to another bar first. So sounds like they were all going to different bars together. I presume the other two knew nothing of killer's plans.

[panader0]

37. That doesn't matter.

What matters is that people were killed and wounded.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

41. It does matter.

It matters how we talk about one of the victims.

[panader0]

43. I don't care about the sexuality of the shooter's sibling.

I don't care about the sexuality of the other victims. I care that
they were shot.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

45. Trans has to do with identity, not sexuality.

[obamanut2012]

49. How is being trans about sexuality?

People in this very thread are misgendering and deadnaming. The victims deserve to be respected and given dignity. ALL of them.

[Ms. Toad]

50. Ouch.

Sexuality and gender identity are two very different things.

https://www.genderbread.org/resource/genderbread-person-v4-0

And transpeople do care about being misgendered and deadnamed - so it isn't about whether **you** care.

[dawg day]

52. It is significant no matter what that the first person he killed was his sibling.

I mean, as to motive.

There have been other mass killers (the Sandy Hook killer comes to mind) who first killed a family member at home or work, and then went somewhere else to commit mass murder.

It is horrific that there are enough examples of mass shooters in the US that we can start to make generalizations about them.