The gunman who opened fire at Ohio Walmart this week, injuring four people, may have been at least partly inspired by violent, racist ideology, the FBI said Wednesday.
Twenty-year-old Benjamin Charles Jones, whom the FBI identified as white, killed himself after opening fire with a carbine at the Walmart in Beavercreek about 8:30 p.m. Monday, authorities have said.
He wounded four people — a white man, a white woman, and two Black women — the FBI said. All survived. Jones is white, the FBI has said.
“Based on evidence collected — including journal writings from the attacker, Benjamin Charles Jones — the attack may have been at least partially inspired by racially motivated violent extremist (RMVE) ideology,” the FBI and Beavercreek police said in a statement.
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“The FBI will continue to investigate the motivating factors leading to this attack,” the agencies said.
Jones used a .45-caliber Hi-Point carbine with one nine-round magazine in the shooting, they said.
He bought the weapon Saturday, just two days before he opened fire, from a store in the Dayton area, the FBI and police said in the statement.
Beavercreek is a city of around 46,000 east of Dayton.
