Gunman who killed 8 people at Indianapolis FedEx facility in April not motivated by racism or ideology: FBI
The Indianapolis shooter who slaughtered eight people in a barrage of bullets at a FedEx facility in April was not motivated by racial bias or ideology, officials said Wednesday.
Neither was he disgruntled, investigators said.
All he wanted to do was commit murder and die by suicide, they said.
Brandon Scott Hole, 19, used the April 15 attack as an act of “suicidal murder” and believed he would “demonstrate his masculinity and capability” while fulfilling a final desire to experience killing people, Indianapolis police and federal authorities said during a news conference, according to The Associated Press.
“Only the shooter knows all the reasons why he committed this horrific act of violence,” Paul Keenan, special agent in charge for the FBI’s Indianapolis office, told reporters, according to CNN. “However, at this time, the FBI is confident that based on the evidence collected, the assessment of the Behavioral Analysis Unit is accurate, and the shooter did not appear to be motivated by bias or a desire to advance an ideology.”
Toxic masculinity may also have been on the menu, with Keenan saying Hole was “trying to prove that he’s a man basically by doing this act.”
While Hole’s internet viewing habits included “World War II Nazi-type propaganda,” Keenan said, that was not the dominant theme, comprising just 200 out of 175,000 files on his computer.
Rather, indications were that Hole chose the FedEx building purely out of familiarity and because he believed the site would give him access to a large number of vulnerable victims, AP said.
“He knew the location well,” Keenan said. “He knew there would be a large group of people there that he would consider targets.”
Hole gunned down Matthew Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jasvinder Kaur, 50; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Karlie Smith, 19, and John Weisert, 74, on April 15.
He also fulfilled his suicidal wish, killing himself at the facility after the shooting. He did it all with legally purchased guns.
Four of the victims were Sikh, and members of that community had pushed for an investigation into Hole’s motives partly because the facility was known for hiring people of color, especially a Punjabi Sikh-majority.
Sikh Coalition Legal Director Amrith Kaur said that while “it’s impossible” to know Hole’s thinking, she was disappointed police did not release additional details about how they ruled out bias as a possible motive.
“It is important to recognize that bias can be a factor in addition to these other issues,” Kaur said in a statement Wednesday. “Though law enforcement has said this investigation is over, for all the families who lost loved ones, the survivors, the Sikh community, and anyone else impacted by hate violence, these questions will remain forever.”
With News Wire Services
