The FBI and local law enforcement agencies are investigating the case as “at least partially” racially motivated, the agency reported.
Around 8:35 p.m. Nov. 20, Jones, a 20-year-old from Dayton, reportedly entered the Beavercreek Walmart and opened fire. When officers arrived minutes later, they found Jones on the floor near the store’s vision center dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police said two Black females, a white female and a white male were injured in the shooting. Two of the victims have been released from the hospital, while the other two victims remain hospitalized in stable condition, Beavercreek police said Monday. The Walmart store was closed much of last week before reopening on Black Friday morning.
A GoFundMe account created Sunday says it is raising money for one of the victims of the Beavercreek Walmart shooting, a Black woman. The Dayton Daily News generally does not name crime victims unless they give consent.
The GoFundMe post says the woman was shot multiple times and has undergone multiple significant surgeries on her spine and internal organs. The post had raised just over $11,000 as of late Monday afternoon.
“This investigation remains very active as the FBI is thoroughly examining the attacker’s background, motive, connections, and online activity,” Beavercreek police said Monday. “Anyone with information regarding Benjamin Charles Jones is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-Call-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov.”
The gun Jones used — a Hi-Point .45 caliber carbine with one 9-round magazine — was purchased last Nov. 18, just two days before the mass shooting, from a store in the Dayton area, according to law enforcement officials.
They said investigators are “continuing to look at the background of the subject to determine if any of his answers on the ATF Form 4473 were inaccurate.”
Among the items on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives form is the question: “Have you ever been adjudicated as a mental defective OR have you ever been committed to a mental institution?”
Under federal law, anyone who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution is prohibited from “receiving or possessing” a firearm.
Fairborn police were called to Jones’ previous residence on Thompson Drive in both April and May 2022, Jones was experiencing suicidal ideation, according to Fairborn police reports. Both times Jones was “pink-slipped” and taken to Soin Medical Center - Kettering Health, according to police. The “pink-slip” process refers to detaining those believed to be a danger to themselves or others for emergency, involuntary admission to a hospital for mental illness.
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