The standoff between police and the suspected gunman who threatened and then tried to shoot his way into a Cincinnati FBI Field Office Thursday, leading to a day-long pursuit across parts of Ohio, has ended with the suspect dead.
“Two law enforcement officials have confirmed to NBC News that Ricky Walter Shiffer, the suspect in the attack on the FBI field office in Cincinnati, is dead,” NBC News’ Ryan J. Reilly reports.
NBC News reports “Shiffer posted to Truth Social multiple times in the days after the FBI searched Trump’s residence about wanting to engage in violence. One post called for people to arm themselves and be ready for ‘combat.'”
“In response to another user asking if Shiffer was advocating for terrorism, Shiffer’s account responded that users should kill FBI agents ‘on sight’ and also target a vague list of enemies who try to stop the slayings.”
“The suspect reportedly fired a nail gun and brandished an AR-15-style rifle at FBI agents then fled in his car early Thursday morning,” The Independent adds.
Shiffer allegedly led police on a day-long chase, at one point reportedly shooting from inside a cornfield.
NBC also reports in May, “Shiffer replied to a post by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green on Twitter, in which she wrote, ‘I know they are trying 1984, but I’m feeling 2016 vibes.'”
“’Congresswoman Greene, they got away with fixing elections in plain sight,’ Shiffer wrote. ‘It’s over. The next step is the one we used in 1775.'”
“Authorities said the man was wearing body armor and fled to Clinton County, Ohio, where he hid in a cornfield after exchanging gunfire with the police, and refused to surrender,” The New York Times reports. “Investigators are looking into whether the man had ties to extremist groups, including one that participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.”
Shiffer “seems to have appeared in a video posted on Facebook on Jan. 5, 2021, showing him attending a pro-Trump rally at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington the night before the Capitol was stormed,” The Times adds. “In May, a Twitter user named Ricky Shiffer replied to a photograph of rioters scaling the walls of the Capitol on Jan. 6 with a message that claimed he was present at the building and seemed to place the blame for the attack on people other than supporters of former President Donald J. Trump.”