Walmart Shooter in Ohio May Have Been Motivated by Racial Extremism, Says FBI

After a shooting at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, on Monday, police are uncovering what might have been the gunman’s motive.

Just days before Thanksgiving, 20-year-old Benjamin Charles Jones opened fire at a local Walmart in Ohio, wounding four people — a white woman, two African-American women and a white man — before taking his own life. On Wednesday, the FBI revealed part of what they believe influenced Jones to open fire.

“Based on the evidence gathered, including journal articles by the assailant, Benjamin Charles Jones, the attack may have been inspired at least in part by Racially Motivated Violent Extremist (RMVE) ideology,” FBI officials said at a news conference.

4 injured, 1 dead in shooting at Walmart in Ohio

Beavercreek Police Department

All four victims survived and are in a stable condition, and the investigation is still ongoing.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Tuesday, Walmart responded to the incident: “We are heartbroken by what happened at our store in Beavercreek, Ohio,” a company spokesperson said. “This remains a developing situation and we are working closely with on-site investigators. All questions should be directed to local police,” the statement concluded.

The FBI also revealed that Jones had purchased the weapon he used — a Hi-Point .45 caliber carbine — just two days before the shooting. They said they were checking his responses to gun purchase documents to see if any of them were fake.

According to news from the Beavercreek Police Department on X (formerly known as Twitter), Jones entered the store “and started firing a gun” around 8:35 p.m. Monday night. All four injured persons were transported to nearby hospitals.

Shortly after police arrived at Walmart, the building was “cleared and secured.” Authorities announced that “a fifth person, the shooter, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.” They added: “No shots were fired by any officers.”

Marshall Gorby/Dayton Daily News via AP

Want to keep up with the latest crime reports? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for the latest crime news, coverage of ongoing trials and details on intriguing unsolved cases.

The Beavercreek shooting is the second at a Walmart store in the US in just over 24 hours.

On Sunday night, two people were shot and killed in the parking lot of a Walmart in Anchorage, Alaska, the Anchorage Police Department said. Shortly after 5 p.m., police officers responded “to a report of a shooting,” according to a police statement. “When officers arrived they found a deceased adult female and a deceased adult male.”

“We don’t have a motive yet, we don’t have information about what he might have been thinking, or anything else,” Beavercreek Police Capt. Scott Molnar told reporters Monday night, per NBC News. “We are still investigating it. It’s very, very early in the investigation.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education