TRAGEDY

Fatal Kroger Shooting Being Investigated as ‘Possible Hate Crime’

The FBI and local police are reportedly investigating the shooting for “potential civil-rights violations.”

A fatal shooting at a Kroger grocery store near Louisville, Kentucky, is being investigated as a “possible hate crime,” the Associated Press reports. Gregory Bush, 51, was arrested for allegedly shooting a black man, 69-year-old Maurice E. Stallard, in the head inside the Kroger and a black woman, 67-year-old Vickie Lee Jones, in the store’s parking lot on Wednesday. U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman reportedly said investigators are examining whether the shooting violated any federal laws, like “potential civil rights violations such as hate crimes.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation is reportedly investigating the case alongside local police. In prepared remarks, Coleman reportedly said the shooting was “not being taken lightly by the United States government.” Police previously said Bush attempted to enter First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown, a predominately black church, shortly before the shooting. A witness at the Kroger shooting told The Courier Journal that Bush told him in the parking lot, “Whites don’t shoot whites.” 

TELLING

Witness: Kroger Suspect Said ‘Whites Don’t Shoot Whites’