Ohio FBI shooting - latest: ‘Violent extremist’ Ricky Shiffer investigated for months after Jan 6
Standoff with police ended with suspect being shot
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Cincinnati shooting suspect Ricky Shiffer was shot dead by police on the side of an interstate highway hours after he attempted to breach a visitor’s entrance at an FBI field office in the city.
The 42-year-old, of Columbus, Ohio, fled the scene of the attempted attack on Thursday morning before a standoff and shootout took place hours later. The FBI confirmed his death at 3.45pm following an exchange of gunfire.
Officials are investigating Shiffer’s ties to the US Capitol riot and right wing extremism as he appears to have claimed that he was present in Washington on 6 January on Truth Social, a pro-Trump social media site.
Federal agents were already looking into Shiffer’s ties to the Capitol attack before the FBI standoff, the New York Times reports.
Shiffer also appeared to support Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of a stolen election in 2020 and responded to social media posts by pro-Trump figures such as congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump Jr.
His social media posts made reference to the FBI’s search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Monday.
Ohio shooter posted on Trump’s Truth Social during attack
A suspected social media account of the Ohio shooter Ricky Shiffer made a reference to storming an FBI office while the attack was underway on Thursday.
“Well, I thought I had a way through bullet proof glass, and I didn’t,” the user posted on Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social at 9.29am, NBC News reported.
Shiffer added: “If you don’t hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the FBI, and it’ll mean either I was taken off the internet, the FBI got me, or they sent the regular cops while.”
The suspect fled in a car and was later “contained” by police on the I-71 highway. The social media accounts have not yet been confirmed by officials as belonging to Shiffer.
FBI search at Mar-a-Lago may have triggered Ohio shooter
The Ohio shooting suspect had increased his social media activity in response to the FBI’s search at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, even calling for “war” after the investigative agency’s search at the former president’s Florida residence-turned-club earlier this week.
“People, this is it. I hope a call to arms comes from someone better qualified, but if not, this is your call to arms from me,” the user named rickywshifferjr wrote on Truth Social on Monday, after the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago was reported.
He called on people to leave work tomorrow, grab “whatever you need to be ready for combat” from army stores, gun shops, pawn shops “as soon as” they open and added that this time we must respond with force.
FBI’s response to Ohio shooting: ‘Investigating agent-involved shooting'
The FBI Cincinnati has said it is reviewing the incident of an active shooter outside the building on Thursday which included federal agents.
“The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously. In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under investigation by the FBI’s inspection division. The review process is throrough and objective, and is conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances,” it said in a statement on Friday morning.
It is also reported to have deployed a Shooting Incident Review Team to the scene, as part of standard practice when an FBI special agent or task force officer discharges a weapon.
The FBI’s review team will work to gather more evidence and interview witnesses to find out if the incident demanded the use of deadly force and if it was justified, reported CNN.
Gunman may have left farewell message on Trump’s social platform
ICYMI: Social media accounts appearing to belong to the Ohio shooting suspect Ricky Shiffer indicate he was present in Washington, DC, on 5 and 6 January for pro-Trump demonstrations in 2021, and claimed to have been present at the storming of the Capitol itself.
“I was there,” a Twitter account with the name Ricky Shiffer wrote, replying to a picture of rioters climbing into the Capitol.
An account on Truth Social, Donald Trump’s conservative social network, also appears to belong to Shiffer.
Read the full story here:
Gunman killed in shootout may have left farewell message on Trump’s social platform
Man identified as Ricky Shiffer died at scene, police say, and may have been present at Jan 6 riot
Attack could lead to others, former agent warns
The attack on the FBI’s Cincinnati headquarters by a lone shooter could act as a rallying cry for other “unhinged” people to launch similar assaults, a former top agent has warned.
Speaking to CNN on Thursday, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe said it was “coincidental” that the attack on an FBI field office came in the aftermath of an FBI search on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property.
The suspect in the Cincinnati shoot-out, Ricky Shiffer, suggested on social media that he had attended the 6 January Capitol riot in support of the former president’s stolen election lies and was planning on carrying out the attack on the FBI office following the search on Mar-a-Lago, reports say.
Bevan Hurley has more:
Ex-FBI official fears Ohio attack could act as a rallying cry for ‘unhinged’ people
Republicans and rightwing commentators accused of stoking violence and endangering lives as armed man attacks FBI office in Ohio
Suspect called for “1775” as “solution” in reply to Marjorie Taylor Greene
Social media accounts thought to belong to FBI shooting suspect Ricky Shiffer have come under scrutiny since his death on Thursday following a shoot-out with officers and an attempted attack on the bureau’s office in Cincinnati.
One tweet seen by NBC News suggested that in May, Shiffer responded to a tweet by pro-Trump congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene by referencing the need for a repeat of “1775” – in apparent reference to the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.
Shiffer reportedly wrote: “Congresswoman Greene, they got away with fixing elections in plain sight. It’s over. The next step is the one we used in 1775.”
Ms Greene had tweeted: “I know they are trying 1984, but I’m feeling 2016 vibes”. Those comments were in apparent reference to false claims made by Donald Trump that Democrats stole the 2020 US election.
Shoot-out under investigation, FBI says
In an updated statement on Thursday night, the FBI field office in Cincinnati said it “takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or their task-force members seriously” and that the the FBI’s Inspection Division was now probing the shoot-out between officers and suspect Ricky Shiffer.
The agency confirmed that Shiffer was shot dead by officers at about 3.45pm on Thursday, who also fired weapons.
Shiffer had earlier tried to breach the visitor entrance to the FBI office in Cincinnati before fleeing in his vehicle along the interstate 71 highway, where was spotted by Ohio State Highway Patrol and “contained”.
FBI issued warning on Wednesday to employees about threats
On Wednesday, the FBI had warned its officers to avoid potential protesters and to ensure their security key cards were “not visible outside FBI space” because of an increase in threats shared online, the Associated Press reported.
While the internal warning to FBI employees did not specifically mention the search of Mar-a-Lago, the bureau attributed the online threats to “recent media reporting on FBI investigative activity.”
On Gab, a social media site popular with white supremacists, users have reportedly been warning that they were preparing for an armed revolution following the FBI’s execution of a search warrant on Donald Tump’s Florida home.
The search is believed to be part of an investigation into possible wrongdoing over classified White House documents taken to Mar-a-Lago.
On the same day FBI shooting suspect Ricky Shiffer responded to a tweet by congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in May, the Ohio man also responded to a post by the former US president’s eldest son with another apparently veiled threat.
“Do not comply,” Shiffer reportedly tweeted in response to a post by Donald Trump Jr telling his followers to “Get ready” because “the midterm variant (of COVID-19) is coming and it’s going to be really scary”.
A NBC News reported of the Twitter posts, the remarks by Mr Trump Jr were in an apparent reference to fringe conspiracy theories about the disease and were unfounded.
Negotiations with shooter failed, officials said
ICYMI: Suspect shooter Ricky Shiffer fled the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was shot following failed negotiations with multiple law enforcement agencies.
Lt Nathan Dennis, of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, said negotiations with the suspect failed along the I-71 highway and that police had tried “less lethal tactics” before gunfire was exchanged.
There were no other injuries and it was unclear if the suspect had said anything to officers during the standoff, which came after Shiffer was accused of trying to break into the FBI’s field office in Cincinnati.
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