Ohio Walmart shooter may have been motivated by Nazi ideology
Beavercreek, Ohio - The gunman who on Monday shot four people at an Ohio Walmart before killing himself may have been motivated by racist, Nazi ideology.
The FBI said they had recovered two Nazi flags, "the SS history book," a shooting complex card, handwritten notes, and a laptop from the home of the shooter, identified as 20-year-old Benjamin Charles Jones of Dayton.
"Based on evidence collected, including journal writings from the attacker, he may have been at least partially inspired by racially motivated violent extremist ideology," a spokesperson told ABC.
Jones opened fire in the Walmart with a Hi-Point 45-caliber carbine around 8:30 PM on Monday. Two of the people he shot were white and two were Black.
Police said three of the people were in stable condition and one woman was in critical but stable condition.
The Beavercreek store is not new to tragedy. In August 2014, a white police officer fatally shot John Crawford III, who was Black, after he picked up an unpacked pellet rifle from a store shelf.
One day prior to the Ohio incident, another shooter opened fire in a Walmart in Anchorage, Alaska, killing a woman before killing himself. Police said it was a domestic violence-related crime.
The investigation into the motivating factors behind Jones' attack is ongoing.
Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire