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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMan who killed 2 at Kroger tried to enter a predominantly black church earlier
By Faith Karimi, CNN
Updated 3:58 AM ET, Sun October 28, 2018
(CNN)A white man who allegedly killed two people at a Kroger grocery store in Kentucky tried to enter a predominantly black church nearby minutes before the fatal shooting, police said.
The two people killed Wednesday -- Maurice Stallard and Vickie Jones -- were shot in the grocery store and the parking lot, respectively. CNN affiliate WDRB described both victims as black.
Police arrested suspect Gregory A. Bush, 51, shortly after the shooting, which happened in the Louisville suburb of Jeffersontown.
"Our hearts break for the families of the those we lost to the tragedy at the Jeffersontown Kroger," Russell M. Coleman, the US attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, said in a statement Friday. "The murders are not being taken lightly by the United States government. Federal investigators are supporting local law enforcement and examining this matter from the perspective of federal criminal law, which includes potential civil rights violations such as hate crimes."
Surveillance video showed that 10 to 15 minutes before the grocery store shooting, Bush tried to enter the First Baptist Church in Jeffersontown, police Chief Sam Rogers said.
A church member sitting in the parking lot saw the suspect banging on and pulling the door, trying to get inside, the affiliate reported.
"To think that an hour and a half earlier, we had 70 people in the church," church administrator Billy Williams told the affiliate. "But by the time he came through, all doors were locked, and there were probably eight or 10 still in the building."
When Bush was unable to enter the church, he went to Kroger and opened fire in the store, killing Stallard, 69, police said.
The suspect then fled the store and shot a second victim, Jones, 67, in the parking lot, according to authorities.
He exchanged multiple rounds of gunfire in the Kroger parking lot with an armed civilian who had a carry concealed permit. Nobody was injured, and the suspect fled the scene, police said. He was arrested nearby.
Stallard was at the store with his 12-year-old grandson buying a poster board for the boy's school project when he got shot. His grandson ran out of the store, screaming for help, Enzo Palombino said.
Palombino told the affiliate that the boy ran toward him. He grabbed his hand and took him to his car, where they called the boy's mother.
"We're on the phone just trying to get ahold of his mom, and I could just see the fear in his face," he said. "And I'm holding him the whole time."
Palombino said the boy's screaming and yelling is still replaying in his head.
Kroger said it was saddened by the shooting, and has closed the store until the investigation concludes. It referred all questions to local law enforcement.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said Stallard was the father of Kellie Watson, the chief equity officer for the city of Louisville.
"I'm just sick and heartbroken and quite angry. I feel that way about any act of violence and cruelty," Fischer said.
Jeffersontown Mayor Bill Dieruf said the shooting has shattered a community that values its sense of family.
"We are kindred spirits no matter our walk of life or how we worship or what we look like. We take pride in that," he said.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/26/us/kentucky-kroger-shooting/index.html
RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)God bless Mr. Stallard, Ms. Jones, and their loved ones. They deserved better than this...
Roland99
(53,342 posts)RHMerriman
(1,376 posts)What a shock...
SoCalNative
(4,613 posts)LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) The man accused of shooting two people at a Taylorsville Road Kroger has a violent criminal history.
In May 2009, Gregory Bush was charged with the violation of a protective order and intimidating a person in the legal process. The police report said Bush was screaming profanities and vulgarities at his ex-wife, who filed a domestic violence order against him. The police report said Bushs aggressive behavior caused fear and apprehension. When Bush appeared in court for this case the judge filed a motion for psychiatric examination. The judge also told him to stay on his medication.
In January of 2009, a police report said Bush held his mother and father against their will. The report said Bush kept them from calling the police. Bush had put padlocks on all the doors and levers on the windows. The police report said his father suffered a possible fractured jaw, swelling, and bruising to his eye while his mother suffered soreness of her neck and body. In this police report, his mother and father said they were terrified of Bushs unpredictable behavior. The police report said Bush had fired a gun and shot a cellphone causing his parents to become terrified. Bush's 10-year-old son was present during the incident.
In 2003, police responded to a report of Bush entering the womens bathroom behind a 15-year-old female and proceeded to touch the teenagers waist. This incident, according to court documents happened at Stony Brook Cinemas, which is in the area of the shooting at Kroger on Wednesday.
https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/accused-kroger-shooter-has-history-of-violent-crime/417-608037549
MyOwnPeace
(16,926 posts)that black church had armed guards at the door?
If not, Im guessing IQ45 would have said they brought it on themselves had the shooter gone in.