Friend Of Dayton Shooter Ethan Kollie Arrested For Providing Shooter With 100 Rounds Of Ammunition And Body Armor
Be careful of the company you keep.
getty Ethan Kollie is one of the only people to come forward as a friend of the Dayton shooter, who opened fire in the Oregon district of downtown Dayton, Ohio. Kollie helped the shooter acquire the weapons used in the attack, even though he claims that he didn't know anything about the attack. He was arrested last Friday on charges unrelated to the shooting. This has everyone wondering, who is Ethan Kollie?
1. Friendship with Betts
Kollie and the shooter were good friends. Kollie has never denied this and was very open with authorities about the nature of their friendship. He has admitted to knowing the shooter since "at least 2014" and confessed to smoking weed and dropping acid with him at least four or five times a week. Kollie claims that he had no idea what the shooter was planning to do.
2. The attack
The attack on the Oregon District of Ohio has been in the news for weeks. The shooter used weapons and equipment he acquired through Kollie to open fire in downtown Dayton, Ohio, killing nine people, including his own sister. Seconds after he began shooting, local police shot and killed him, preventing anyone else from being shot. Now that he is dead, little is known about the motives of the shooting. Police are digging deeply into the life of the Dayton shooter and those he was close with. They feel like perhaps Kollie could be the key to some of the answers they are searching for.
3. Drug Use
When searching Kollie's apartment, police smelled marijuana smoke. They also found a water bong, which he presumably used to smoke his weed. Marijuana isn't the scandal it used to be, a lot of states even legalizing it. However in interrogations by police, Kollie has admitted to doing harder drugs. He even grows psychedelic mushrooms in his Ohio home. He said that he often "micro-doses" on the mushrooms claiming that they energize him and are "fun."
4. Lied on his federal fire arms form
According to the American Bar Association, there is an extensive application process for acquiring fire arms. "The application for the FFL is extensive. There are three documents that must be completed — the Application for Federal Firearms License, a Certification of Compliance and a Fingerprint Card." Somehow Kollie was able to lie on his application without getting caught. He listed on the form that he was not a drug user, even though he told police he has smoked marijuana every day for 10 years. When police asked him why he lied on his form he said that he knew he wouldn't be able to purchase firearms if he was truthful.
5. Purchased and hid weapons for Betts.
Now after Kollie was licensed to purchase firearms, he decided to share the wealth with his good friend, the mass murderer and domestic terrorist who shot up the Ned Peppers bar in downtown Dayton. According to the affidavit, "Kollie indicated that he purchased these items for [the shooter] — and stored them in Kollie's apartment — to assist [the shooter] in hiding them from his parents". He admitted to purchasing the body armor, 100 round double drum magazine, and an upper receiver for an AR-15 for the shooter. According to authorities, all three items were used in the attack.
6. Charges agaisnt him
Authorities cannot seem to tie Kollie to the attacks. U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman said, "To be clear, there is no evidence and allegation in this criminal complaint that Kollie intentionally participated in the planning of [the shooter's] Aug. 4 shooting. I don't want that to be misconstrued." However he was arrested on two unrelated charges. They were listed as falsely denying he was a drug user when buying a handgun for himself, and possession of a firearm while unlawfully using drugs.
His attorney released a statement saying, "He does not deny his friendship with [the shooter] and he was as shocked and surprised as everyone else that [the shooter] committed the violent and senseless massacre in the Oregon District."
Kaitlin Kaiser is a writer who writes about love, relationships, self-care, spirituality and astrology.