The man who fired a nail gun into an FBI building in Cincinnati on Thursday before being killed by agents was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, officials said.
Two officials familiar with the case identified the suspect as Ricky Walter Shiffer.
Officers shot and killed the suspect after failing to negotiate with him, Ohio State Police spokesman Lieutenant Nathan Dennis told reporters.
The man raised a gun and officers opened fire, Dennis said.
It wasn’t clear if he fired, Dennis said, nor was it clear who fired the fatal shot. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, which Dennis described as a rural area off Interstate 71.
No officers were injured and a possible motive is still under investigation, Dennis said.
Earlier, two law enforcement sources told NBC News that a man armed with an AR-15-style rifle entered the FBI building and fired a nail gun at staff before fleeing in a car.
“At approximately 9:15 a.m. EST, the FBI Cincinnati Field Office had attempted an armed subject to breach the Visitor Screening Facility (VSF),” FBI Cincinnati said in a statement. “After activating an alarm and a response from armed special agents from the FBI, the subject fled north to Interstate 71.”
Clinton County Emergency Management Agency warned that Interstate 71 was closed in both directions in the area of ​​the standoff at 1 p.m.
“Police shot a male suspect wearing a gray shirt and body armor,” the agency said in an initial statement, warning people in the area to stay indoors and lock their doors. Ohio State Highway Patrol said the suspect fired shots from a Ford Crown Victoria while being chased by police.
Brian Murphy, a former official at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI who is now an executive at the open source intelligence firm Logical, told The Associate Press on Wednesday that his company has observed a large increase in threats against FBI personnel and facilities. on social media. media platforms since the FBI’s search for former President Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Largo.
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday criticized Trump supporters for using violent rhetoric against law enforcement in the wake of the search.
“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Wray said. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you are angry at.”
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The Associated Press and Antonio Planas contributed.