(AP) — A white gunman who opened fire inside a Walmart in Ohio and wounded four people before killing himself may have been motivated by racist extremism, the FBI said Wednesday.
Four shoppers — two Black women, a white woman and a white man — were wounded in the attack at the Walmart in Beavercreek, a suburb of Dayton, just days before Thanksgiving, the FBI said.
Evidence, including journal writings, shows the shooting may have been at least partially inspired by racially violent extremist ideology, according to the FBI.
The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Benjamin Charles Jones of Dayton, entered the store Monday night carrying a Hi-Point 45-caliber Carbine long gun, police said. He shot an undetermined number of rounds, leaving injured victims throughout the building, before turning the weapon on himself, authorities said.
Attempts by The Associated Press to reach relatives of Jones were unsuccessful.
Jones bought the gun two days before the attack at a store in Dayton, the FBI said. Investigators said they were checking whether he provided any false information on his background check form and also continuing to look into his background and online activity.
Police said on Tuesday that three of the victims were in stable condition at area hospitals, and one of the victims, a woman, was in critical but stable condition.
Authorities have declined to release the identities of the victims.
The shooting happened a day after a man shot and killed a woman before fatally shooting himself outside a Walmart in Anchorage, Alaska. Police in Anchorage said Tuesday it was a domestic violence-related crime.
In 2019, a white gunman killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in a racist attack that targeted Hispanic shoppers. Walmart soon after discontinued sales of certain kinds of ammunition. It also asked that customers no longer openly carry firearms in its stores. The retailer now sells only hunting rifles and related ammunition.
The store in Ohio where Monday’s shooting took place was the scene of a fatal shooting involving police almost 10 years ago. A white police officer shot 22-year-old John Crawford III after he picked up an unpackaged pellet rifle he found on a shelf in August 2014. The family of the Black man reached a settlement of $1.7 million with the city of Beavercreek. The settlement included changes in police policy.
