A daylong standoff between Ohio police and an armed man accused of threatening a Cincinnati FBI field office on Thursday has come to an end, according to local officials, with officers fatally shooting Ricky Shiffer, 42.
An official from the Ohio State Highway Patrol said officers attempted to negotiate with the 42-year-old, but were unsuccessful.
“At that point, law enforcement started to work toward moving in and taking the suspect into custody. Less-than-lethal tactics were utilised at that time,” Lt Nathan Dennis of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.
“They were also unsuccessful,” he continued. “The suspect then did raise a firearm toward law enforcement, and shots were fired by law enforcement officers.”
Shiffer, who was wearing body armour, died from his injuries at the scene.
The 42-year-old lived in Columbus, according to public records obtained by the Daily Beast.
He allegedly threatened an FBI office in Cincinnati on Thursday around 9am, firing a nail gun at staff and brandishing an AR-15-style rifle, before driving away.
Members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol caught up with Shiffer at a rest stop, prompting him to flee once again.
Eventually, he abandoned his car and ran into a cornfield in Wilmington, Ohio, exchanging gunfire with police.
What followed was a prolonged standoff, with police officers and FBI agents forming a perimeter around the field, as traffic was temporarily paused on I-71.
Helicopters and drones circle overheard as officers tried to negotiate with the man.
Officials are reportedly probing whether Shiffer has any ties to the January 6, 2021, attacks on the US Capitol.
Social media accounts appearing to belong to the man indicate he was present in Washington, DC, on 5 and 6 January for pro-Trump demonstrations in 2021, and claimed to have been present at the storming of the Capitol itself.
“I was there,” a Twitter account with the name Ricky Shiffer wrote, replying to a picture of rioters climbing into the Capitol.
An account on Truth Social, Donald Trump’s conservative social network, also appears to belong to Shiffer.
On the man’s page, it describes him as a construction electrician from Columbus.
“If you don’t hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the FBI, and it’ll mean either I was taken off the internet, the FBI got me, or they sent the regular cops,” a post from the account on Thursday reads.
FBI Director Christopher Wray called Thursday’s attack “deeply concerning.”
“Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans,” Mr Wray wrote in a statement to NBC News. “Every day I see the men and women of the FBI doing their jobs professionally and with rigor, objectivity, and a fierce commitment to our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.”
The standoff comes as high-profile conservatives increasingly turn against the FBI, despite their previouspositions of being pro-law enforcement, after the high-profile FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
