Ohio Walmart mass shooting possibly motivated by racist ideology, FBI says

CINCINNATI — The mass shooting at a Walmart in Ohio was possibly motivated by racist beliefs, according to the FBI and authorities.

Police say Benjamin Charles Jones, 20, shot and wounded four shoppers inside the store Monday night before taking his own life. Investigators have collected journal writings that indicated the shooting was at least partially inspired by "racially motivated violent extremist" ideology, FBI officials said in a news release Wednesday, adding that they will investigate the motivating factors leading to the attack.

Two of the victims are Black women, the others are a white man and a white woman, officials said. As of Tuesday afternoon, one of the victims remained in critical condition. The rest were considered stable or their injuries were not life-threatening.

The attack was reported at around 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, a town of about 50,000 in the Dayton metropolitan area. Jones was found dead due to a self-inflicted gunshot behind the vision center in the store shortly after Beavercreek police responded to the scene, officials said in a news conference Tuesday.

Officials said Jones used a Hi-Point .45 caliber carbine with a single nine-round magazine. That firearm was purchased Nov. 18 from a store in the Dayton area.

Investigators examining Jones' motives and background

According to the RAND Corporation, a California-based nonprofit think tank, racially and ethnically motivated violent extremism refers to a "loosely organized movement of individuals and groups that espouse some combination of racist, antiSemitic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, misogynistic, and homophobic ideology."

Investigators are still looking into Jones' background to figure out if he lied in any of his answers to a federal questionnaire used to determine if an individual is prohibited under federal or state law from buying a gun. Federal investigators are also examining Jones' motives, connections, and online activity.

Police have not said if Jones was targeting anyone or if he knew any of the victims. Officers said the victims were found throughout the store.

Investigators said Jones is from Dayton, but had moved away several years and returned about a year ago. He does have family in the Dayton area, police reported.

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Gun violence in the U.S.

Monday's shooting is the latest incident in a wave of gun violence across the United States. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been over 38,000 firearm deaths so far this year and more than 600 mass shootings – which is defined by the archive as four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including the shooter.

Walmart issued a statement Tuesday saying it is working closely with investigators to try to determine why a shooter opened fire at its store. The shooting happened a day after two people were shot and killed outside a Walmart in south Anchorage, Alaska. 

“We’re heartbroken by what’s happened at our Beavercreek, Ohio store. This remains a developing situation, and we’re working closely with investigators on the scene,” Walmart said in a statement.

In 2019, Dayton was the site of a mass shooting in its Oregon District. Connor Betts killed nine people and wounded many more before he was shot and killed by police.

In 2014, John Crawford III was shot and killed by a police officer at the same Walmart where the shooting occurred in Beavercreek Monday. Crawford was holding a pellet gun he had picked up in the store.

Contributing: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer