Gregory Bush, 51, a white man, has been charged with shooting
Maurice Stallard, 69, in front of his grandson as they shopped
in a Kroger Inc <KR.N> grocery store in Jeffersontown, some 15
miles (24 km) from downtown Louisville. According to an arrest
citation, he then went to the parking lot and shot Vickie Jones,
67.
Bush has been charged with murder and 10 counts of first-degree
wanton endangerment.
"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," U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman said in a statement
on Friday.
An armed bystander with a carry permit for a concealed weapon
exchanged gunfire with Bush in the parking lot before the
suspect fled in his car. He was apprehended shortly afterwards,
police said.
Ed Harrell told the Louisville Courier Journal that he pulled
out his pistol as Bush approached him in the parking lot and
Bush told him not to shoot as "whites don't kill whites."
It was not immediately clear if Bush had legal representation.
If investigators suspect the killings were racially motivated,
Bush could also be charged for a hate crime.
Both Stallard and Jones were shot from behind multiple times,
Jeffersontown Police Chief Sam Rogers told reporters on
Thursday.
Rogers said Bush suffered from mental illness and court records
showed he had a history of violence and at least one instance
when he used a racial slur.
About 15 minutes before walking into the Kroger supermarket Bush
tried to get into a predominantly black Baptist church, police
said, citing surveillance video.
First Baptist Church administrator Billy Williams told local CBS
affiliate WLKY there were eight to 10 people in the church at
the time.
In 2015, self-described white supremacist Dylann Roof, then 21,
shot and killed nine black people in a church in Charleston,
South Carolina.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico)
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