Accused Kroger shooter has history of mental illness and racist comments
In one complaint from 2009, Bush's father said his son got angry and said, "Tonight might be black death."
Thursday, October 25th 2018, 5:11 AM EDT
Updated: Thursday, October 25th 2018, 10:00 PM EDT
By Jason Riley
By Marcus Green
LOUISVILLE, Ky (WDRB) – The man charged with shooting and killing two people at a suburban Louisville Kroger on Wednesday has a history of mental illness, made racist threats and repeatedly called his ex-wife the N-word, according to court records.
Jeffersontown police are not speculating on whether race was a motive in the killing of 69-year-old Maurice Stallard and 67-year-old Vicki Lee Jones, both of whom were black. The alleged shooter, 51-year-old Gregory A. Bush Sr., is white.
However, Jeffersontown Police Chief Sam Rogers told reporters Thursday afternoon that Bush tried to enter the predominantly black First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown about 10 minutes before the Kroger shooting.
A church member sitting in the parking lot saw Bush trying to get inside by pulling on doors and banging on them. He was also caught on the church's surveillance video.
Church leaders said Thurday they're thankful Bush didn't come to the church any earlier, because there was a midday service Wednesday afternoon.
"Loss of life anywhere is pretty tragic, but just to think that an hour and a half earlier we had 70 people in the church," church administrator Billy Williams said. "But by the time he came through, all doors were locked, and there were probably eight or 10 still in the building."
Williams said the shooting victims were relatives of some of the church members.