Federal authorities cannot unlock the main smartphone of the mass shooter who fatally gunned down nine people, including his sister, using an assault rifle in Dayton, Ohio last week, The Hill reports.
Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation told congressional leaders on Wednesday that investigators are still working to unlock Connor Betts’ primary phone and that it could take months or possibly even years to crack open the device depending on the length of his PIN.
“We don’t know when we are going to get into the phone,” FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said during a briefing about the shooting.
Although agents have been able to unlock one of the killer’s Samsung phones, he reportedly had multiple devices, according to CBS News.
Investigators had similar problems with unlocking the iPhone of one of the perpetrators in the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which left 14 people dead. The FBI ultimately accessed the device with the help of a private contractor.
On Sunday, Betts shot to death nine people and injured 27 others in a popular entertainment area of the city before he was killed by police. The gunfire lasted less than a minute.
Betts wore a mask and body armor during the attack.
One of the victims was his sister, 22-year-old Megan Betts, who had reportedly interacted with her brother at a bar shortly before the killings.
The shooting came one day after a gunman killed 22 people injured more than 20 others at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
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[Feature Photo: Conner Betts/Facebook]
