Ohio Walmart shooting: 4 injured, shooter dead in Beavercreek

A gunman opened fire Monday evening inside a Walmart in Ohio and wounded four people before killing himself — the second shooting in 24 hours to take place at a store operated by the retail giant.

The attack at the Walmart in Beavercreek, a suburb of Dayton, just days before Thanksgiving injured four shoppers: three women and a man. Police said three were in stable condition and one of the women in critical but stable condition on Tuesday afternoon at area hospitals.

Authorities declined to release the identities of the victims, including their races, saying they had not ruled out that the attack was racially motivated.

“Tragedy struck our beloved community Monday evening, and, in the face of adversity, the strength of our community shines through,” Beavercreek Mayor Bob Stone said during a Tuesday news conference.

Walmart said it was working closely with investigators to try to determine why the shooter, identified as 20-year-old Benjamin Charles Jones, of Dayton, opened fire.

Police said Jones entered the store at about 8:30 p.m. Monday wielding a Hi-Point 45-caliber Carbine long gun. He shot an undetermined number of rounds, leaving injured victims throughout the building, before turning the weapon on himself, authorities said.

Efforts made by The Associated Press to reach relatives of Jones were unsuccessful.

“We’re heartbroken by what’s happened at our Beavercreek, Ohio store. This remains a developing situation, and we’re working closely with investigators on the scene,” Walmart said in a statement.

Christopher Suffron told WHIO-TV in Dayton that he was shopping with his wife when they heard five or six shots ring out. “I turned around and told her to get behind me,” he said.

Suffron said he then saw the shooter about 10 feet away and the couple ran out of the store through nearby receiving doors. As they escaped, he said he heard another five or six shots.

The shooting happened almost exactly one day after a man shot and killed a woman before fatally shooting himself outside a Walmart in Anchorage, Alaska. Police in Anchorage said Tuesday it was a domestic-violence related crime. They said in a statement no one else was involved.

Both shootings came