Police: Too soon to say if shooting tied to race
Suspect accused of killing 2 black people at Kentucky grocery
JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. — A white man with a history of violence fatally shot two African American customers at a Kroger grocery store and was swiftly arrested as he tried to flee, police said Thursday.
They said it was too soon to say what prompted the shooting.
News outlets have reported that the suspect, 51-year-old Gregory Alan Bush, made a racial comment to a man he encountered on his way out of the store after the shooting Wednesday. But when asked if the attack may have been racially motivated, Jeffersontown Police Chief Sam Rogers responded, “I can’t speculate on motive at this time. … We are pursuing all avenues of the investigation no matter where that takes us or what it involves.”
At a news conference Thursday, Rogers did say surveillance video shows the suspect tried unsuccessfully to enter the First Baptist church in Jeffersontown before he went to the Kroger. The church is headed by a black pastor and has a large African-American membership.
The FBI announced that it “is evaluating the evidence to determine if there were any violations of federal law.”
Rogers also said Bush apparently does have a history of mental illness as news outlets have reported.
An arrest report says Bush walked into the store outside Louisville, pulled a gun from his waist and shot a man in the back of the head, then kept shooting him multiple times “as he was down on the floor.” The report says Bush then reholstered his gun, walked outside and killed a woman in the parking lot.
Bystander video shows a white man in a distinctive neon-yellow shirt trying to drive away while an officer chases after him on foot. Many more officers converged on the scene and made the arrest on Wednesday afternoon.
Bush, 51, was jailed on $5 million bail Thursday on two counts of murder and 10 counts of felony wanton endangerment.
Ed Harrell was quoted by the Courier Journal of Louisville as saying he was waiting on his wife in the parking lot when he heard gunshots and grabbed his revolver. As he crouched down, he said he saw the gunman walk “nonchalantly” by with a gun by his side. He said he called out to ask what was going on, and the gunman replied: “Don’t shoot me. I won’t shoot you. Whites don’t shoot whites.”
At Thursday’s news conference, Rogers said police “are aware of that statement and are evaluating any factors that that may come into play with” it.
The local coroner’s office identified the victims as Maurice Stallard, 69, and Vicki Lee Jones, 67. Stallard is father of Kellie Watson, the chief racial equity officer for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.
The mayor shared his outrage Thursday over what he called an “epidemic of gun violence” that “hit close to home.”
“Somehow, a few have become so beholden to politics that they place a higher value on that than on the lives of our fellow Americans,” said Fischer, a Democrat running for re-election.
“People getting shot at a grocery store, a school, outside a church. Can’t we all agree that that is unacceptable?” Fischer said at a news conference.
Bush’s criminal record shows he threatened his ex-wife and punched a deputy sheriff during a family court hearing years ago.
In a 2003 incident, Bush was charged with menacing for following a 15-year-old into a movie theater bathroom and putting his hands around her waist. Bush told the girl he “thought we were family” and the girl pushed him away, according to the arrest record.