As details emerge, questions swirl about motive in Kroger shooting
Minutes before the man accused of gunning down two shoppers at a Jeffersontown Kroger walked into the grocery on Wednesday, he tried to enter a predominantly black church, police said Thursday.
That detail — a brief moment in what would become a deadly day — fueled questions and speculation about the motives in the Kroger store shooting in which Gregory Alan Bush has been charged.
Bush, 51, is white. The two victims — Maurice Stallard, 69, and Vickie Lee Jones, 67 — are black. And a witness who said he encountered the suspect in the parking lot said the man told him that "whites don't shoot whites."
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While police and federal authorities declined Thursday to discuss motives, the U.S. Attorney's Office said the incident is being looked at as a possible hate crimes investigation.
Nicole Talbert, a sales manager whose father was a childhood friend of Stallard's, said that "there's not a doubt in my mind this was racially motivated."
Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, supported investigating the incident as a hate crime.
While acknowledging the suspect may have mental health issues, she said, "his (Facebook) posts, his comments, and his visit to First Baptist Jeffersontown lead us to express our concern."
Both Stallard and Jones were shot from behind and shot multiple times, according to Jeffersontown Police Chief Sam Rogers. He said the shooter was only an "arm's length" away from Jones when she was shot in the parking lot.
Stallard was shot inside the store while shopping for poster board with his 12-year-old grandson, who fled outside.
Bush is facing two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment. He was arrested Wednesday shortly after police said he fled the scene. He was arraigned Thursday morning, with his bail set at $5 million.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said he knew there will be a "great deal of speculation" and that he will hold off commenting until there is more information about what happened at the store, 9080 Taylorsville Road.
Fischer added that there's "no room" in Louisville "for anyone who looks at their fellow human beings with hate or discrimination."
Jeffersontown Mayor Bill Dieruf thanked first-responders and other citizens who stepped forward in the aftermath.
"This is something unlike anything else," he told the Courier Journal. "You didn't expect to go to the grocery store and have this situation happen. It's a life-changing experience that you didn't expect to happen to you on that day."
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Rogers said at a press conference Thursday that authorities are investigating where Bush got the gun believed to have been used in the shootings and whether Bush was allowed to have a weapon.
He said Bush tried to get into First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown, about 10 to 15 minutes before he went to Kroger, but wasn't able to enter the church.
Rogers said he could not speculate on why Bush went to the church or whether he was armed at the time.
At the Kroger, Bush allegedly walked into the store and "pulled a pistol from his waistband and shot (Stallard) in the rear of the head and again multiple times as he lay on the floor," according to an arrest citation.
Bush then re-holstered his weapon and walked out of the store, according to the citation. Outside, he drew his weapon again and allegedly shot and killed Jones in the parking lot.
Another shopper, who had a concealed weapon permit, then "challenged" Bush, according to the citation, and Bush began "firing wildly at the civilian throughout the parking lot." Police said no one was injured as part of this exchange.
Rogers did not identify the other man who shot his weapon but said no charges are expected to be filed against that person.
Police arrested Bush on Hurstbourne Parkway near a PNC Bank shortly after the shooting, according to the citation. Rogers said the police received the first calls for help at 2:54 p.m. and had the suspect in custody four minutes later.
Court records show that Bush has a history of mental health problems and violence and at least one instance when he used a racial slur.
In 2001, Bush's ex-wife, who is black, sought an emergency protective order against Bush after he allegedly yelled threats at her and twice called her an "(N-word) bitch." A judge barred Bush from having or buying guns as part of that order, which was effective for three years.
And in a 2009 domestic violence case involving his father, Bush was ordered by a judge to surrender his guns and undergo mental health treatment.
Bush's father sought emergency protection from the courts after he said Bush lifted his mother off the ground by her neck and hit him in the jaw. He had been threatening to shoot his parents, with whom he lived, in the days leading up to the January 2009 assault.
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Rogers said that there is "apparently some mental illness history with the subject in question" but said he didn't have direct knowledge about any illness.
In court filings, Bush identified himself as having Schizoaffective disorder, and his ex-wife also identified him in a different court filing as paranoid.
A Facebook account associated with Bush says that Bush is on disability because his "paranoid-schizophrenia finally stopped me from working."
"I have worked most of my life and battled mental illness throughout my life," the Facebook page reads.
The Courier Journal has not been able to independently verify whether Bush wrote what is on the Facebook page, nor could it confirm whether Bush is on any sort of disability.
The page says that Bush hopes to one day work again and is thankful his parents are in good health.
"I'm lucky I made it this far with all the trouble I've caused myself when I get off my medicine," the Facebook page reads.
Reporters Phillip M. Bailey, Billy Kobin and Bailey Loosemore contributed to this report.
Allison Ross: 502-582-4241; aross@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @allisonSross. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/allisonr.
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