FBI Investigates Possible Racial Motive Behind Ohio Walmart Attack
The FBI said Wednesday that the white gunman who shot and killed four people in an Ohio Walmart may have been driven by racist extremism. According to the FBI, the attack happened at the Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, just days before Thanksgiving.
It hurt two black women, a white woman, and a white man. The FBI says there is evidence, such as journal entries, that the shooting may have been at least partly motivated by racist radical ideas.
Police say the shooter, 20-year-old Benjamin Charles Jones from Dayton, came into the store Monday night with a Hi-Point 45-caliber Carbine long gun.
A post was published on Twitter by Karli VanCleave:
WALMART LATEST: Here’s part of a press release from the Beavercreek Police Department. They have identified the shooter as 20-year-old Benjamin Charles Jones.
The FBI is looking into his motive. They say Jones is a white male from Dayton. @wsyx6
MORE: https://t.co/xr5FVG7Oam pic.twitter.com/VRqsh8STUZ
— Karli VanCleave (@Karli_VanCleave) November 21, 2023
Authorities say he shot a number of rounds into the building, hurting people all over it, and then turned the gun on himself. Police said they arrived three minutes after the first call at 8:36 p.m. At 8:42 p.m., police found Jones dead from a gunshot wound he had given himself.
The Associated Press tried to get in touch with Jones’s family but could not. The FBI said Jones bought the gun in a Dayton shop two days before the attack.
Investigators said they were checking to see if he lied on his background check form and that they were also continuing to look into his past and online activities.
For more news from TheEastCountyGazette, click on the following links:
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Two women were in serious but stable condition at a hospital in the area on Tuesday, according to police. Three of the victims were in stable condition. The authorities have not released the victims’ names.
“Tragedy struck our beloved community Monday evening,” Beavercreek Mayor Bob Stone said in a statement on Tuesday. “In the face of adversity, the strength of our community shines through.”
Citizen YC shared a post on Twitter:
Authorities declined to release the identities of the victims, including their races, saying they had not ruled out that the attack was racially motivated.
“Tragedy struck our beloved community Monday evening, and, in the face of adversity, the strength of our community shines…
— Citizen YC (@CitiznYC) November 21, 2023
The shooting happened the day before, outside of an Alaskan Walmart, where a man shot and killed a woman before killing himself. Anchorage police said on Tuesday that it was a crime linked to domestic violence.
A white guy with a gun killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in 2019. The attack was racist and targeted Hispanic shoppers. Soon after, Walmart stopped selling some types of ammo.
It also asked people not to bring guns into its shops in plain sight. The store only sells hunting weapons and ammunition for them now.
It’s been almost 10 years since cops shot and killed someone in the same Ohio store where the shooting happened on Monday. A white police officer shot John Crawford III, 22, after he took a pellet gun off a shelf that wasn’t packed that he found in August 2014.
The Black man’s family and the city of Beavercreek came to an agreement worth $1.7 million. As part of the settlement, the police strategy was changed.
