Gregory Bush, a 51-year-old white man, shot two Black people dead at a Louisville, Ky., Kroger store on Wednesday. One man was shot in the back of the head, and then multiple times as he lay on the floor in the store, and a woman was shot in the parking lot.
Maurice Stallard, the father of Kellie Watson, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s chief racial equity officer, was shopping for poster boards with his 12-year-old grandson when he was executed.
Watson, an attorney who has held her current position for a year and half, and spent her career in human relations and civil rights positions, has been working to align hiring and promotion practices to procurement procedures throughout the government with improvements in racial equity.
When she received the position last April, she said, “Louisville Metro reaches citizens in countless ways every single day, and it’s important that we’re always mindful of racial equity as we go about our work. Mayor Fischer’s goal of ensuring our city is a platform for helping citizens reach their full potential can only be achieved through working toward greater racial equity.”
The second victim has not been identified.
Ed Harrell, a white bystander, confronted Bush in the parking lot with his gun in tow. He asked Bush what was going on. Bush replied, “Don’t shoot me. I won’t shoot you. Whites don’t shoot whites.”
One witness captured Bush fleeing on video.
Some on social media have called Bush a white supremacist.
RIP to Maurice Stallard Sr. He was one of the two Black victims killed by a white supremacist in a Kentucky Kroger store today. He is the father of Kellie Watson, who is the chief racial equity officer under the Louisville mayor. Several other politicians were targeted today pic.twitter.com/EMuKDDJKF6
— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) October 25, 2018
Eric Deacon, another shopper and an EMT who attempted to save the second victim, saw the shooter flee past him in the store.
“I just know the look on that guy’s face. It was like a blank stare … like he didn’t have a care in the world,” Deacon said.
The FBI released a statement late Wednesday, saying it is “currently assisting the Jeffersontown Police Department in the ongoing investigation into the shooting.”
“FBI Louisville is evaluating the evidence to determine if there were any violations of federal law,” the release stated, adding an update would be given Thursday.
Bush was booked into Metro Corrections on Thursday. He is facing two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment and is being held on $5 million bond.
He has a history of multiple assaults against his ex-wife, and he was also charged in 2009 for allegedly striking his father, lifting his mother off the ground by her neck, unplugging the phone to keep them from calling the police before leaving with a gun. Because of his history, legally, he cannot own a gun.
