A new mum, a graduate student, two best friends and the younger sister of the gunman were among the nine slain during the Dayton, Ohio, mass shooting on Saturday.

Police said Connor Betts, 24, fatally shot his sister Megan Betts, 22, before opening fire and killing Lois Oglesby, 27, Saeed Saleh, 38, Derrick Fudge, 57, Logan Turner, 30, Nicholas Cumer, 25, Thomas McNichols, 25, Beatrice Warren-Curtis, 36, and Monica Brickhouse, 39.

The incident occurred shortly after 1am in Dayton’s popular bar and nightlife Oregon district.

A further 27 were wounded during the mass shooting, which saw Betts use a high-velocity firearm equipped with large-capacity magazines.

The gunman, who was wearing body armour and a mask during the massacre was shot by police about a minute after he fired the first round.

“While this is a terribly sad day for our city, I am amazed by the quick response of Dayton police that saved literally hundreds of lives,” said Nan Whaley, the mayor of the city which is in the state of Ohio.

“Think of the damage he did in such a short period of time,” said President Donald Trump. “It was horrible, but… it could have been so much worse.”

The dead range in age from 22 and 57 and police said six of the nine victims were African American, while the rest were white.

The Dayton shooting came less than 15 hours after 20 people were killed and more than two dozens were injured in El Paso, Texas, when a 21-year-old man allegedly opened fire inside a Walmart.

The back-to-back massacres occurred a week after a gunman killed three people and injured more than a dozen others at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California.

Here’s what we know about the victims of the Ohio massacre:

Megan Betts, 22

Megan Betts was the youngest of the victims. She was also the younger sister of the shooter.

Her Facebook page lists her as a student at Wright State University, in the Department of Biological Sciences. She was due to graduate in 2020 and also worked as a tour guide at the Missoula Smokejumper Visitor Centre.

A friend described her as a “sweetheart” and “very funny” in an interview with a local station, following the shooting.

Nicholas Cumer, 25

Nicholas Cumer, was a graduate student in the Master of Cancer Care program at Saint Francis University.

Saint Francis president Father Malachi Van Tassell confirmed the grad student was among the dead, saying the 25-year-old had completed his undergraduate work with the school as a physiology major.

“Nicholas was dedicated to caring for others. He was recognized at the 2019 Community Engagement Awards among students who had completed 100+ hours of service. In addition he was a graduate assistant with the university marching band,” Father Van Tassell said.

Mr Cumer had been in Dayton as part of an internship program with the Maple Tree Cancer Alliance and the not-for-profit organisation posted on Facebook that it had offered him a full-time role not long before he was killed.

Thomas McNichols, 25

Known as “Teejay” by his close friends and family, Thomas McNichols has been described as a “great father, a great brother”.

His cousin Lamar told The New York Times “he was a protector”.

Lois Oglesby, 27, 

Lois Oglesby was a 27-year-old mother of two children, one of which is a newborn. She was also in nursing school.

“She was a wonderful mother, a wonderful person,” friend Derasha Merrett, told the Dayton Daily News.

“I have cried so much, I can’t cry anymore.”

Ms Oglesby grew up and still lived in the town of Dayton.

Logan Turner, 30

Logan Turner had only just celebrated his 30^th birthday on the Tuesday. The Dayton Daily News is reporting he was a 2008 graduate of Springboro High School and had an engineering degree from the University of Toledo.

His mother, Danita, described him to reporters as “sweet and smart” and a “happy-go-lucky guy”.

Beatrice Warren-Curtis, 36

Beatrice Warren-Curtis, was friends with another of the victims, Monica Brickhouse. It’s understood the pair were out together when the shooting occurred.

A friend said the pair were like “big sisters”.

“This just can’t be real. I just saw you both a month ago after my moms passing Brittany Hart, wrote on Facebook.

Monica Brickhouse, 39

Monica Brickhouse was originally from Springfield Ohio and later moved to live in Virginia Beach, Virginia, according to her Facebook page.

It’s understood she ran a catering and event planning business.

Derrick Fudge, 57

The 57-year-old lived in Springfield, Ohio, and graduated from South High School in Springfield in 1978.

His sister, Twyla Southall, told the Dayton Daily News her brother had been in the vicinity of the shooting when his family when the tragedy occurred. 

“They were all just down there enjoying themselves and had stepped out of, I think, one of the clubs and were in a line to get some food,” she said.

She said he was a father and owned a dog that he “absolutely loved”.