Law enforcement authorities identified the armed man who donned body armor and tried to break into the FBI Cincinnati field office as Ricky Shiffer, 42, of Columbus.
Shiffer at 9 a.m. Thursday tried to breach the visitor screening area of the field office. An alarm sounded and special agents responded. He fled north on Interstate 71 in a white Ford Crown Victoria. After a vehicle pursuit where shots were fired, Shiffer was shot and killed by authorities in Clinton County after a standoff that lasted hours, police said.
Here is what we know about Shiffer.
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Where was Ricky Shiffer from?
Public records show he lived in the Columbus neighborhood of Weinland Park as recently as 2020. Ian McConnell shook his head on Friday when thinking of his former neighbor. McConnell was Shiffer's neighbor in Greystone Apartments in Weinland Park when Shiffer lived there from 2017 to 2020.
McConnell described his former neighbor as quirky but friendly.
"We knew he was a bit off," McConnell said. "He had a little bit of an anger issue about his car, but who doesn't?"
There was no indication Shiffer would do something violent or post extremist rhetoric online, McConnell said.
Around mid-pandemic in 2020, McConnell said Shiffer moved out of the apartment complex with aspirations to go out West.
"It was a shock to us he wound up in Cincinnati," McConnell said. "I'm afraid this is coming two years too late and Ricky got picked up by the wrong crowd."
Truth SocialSuspect in Cincinnati FBI breach may have posted on Trump's Truth Social during incident
An account with the name Ricky Shiffer on Donald Trump's Truth Social site stated in the bio that he worked as an electrician in Columbus. Truth Social deleted the account shortly after Shiffer was identified by police as the suspect. Shiffer does not appear to be a licensed electrician contractor in Ohio, according to the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board database.
It appears recently he may have resided in Florida. Shiffer's 2021 Florida voter registration lists a Tampa address. He listed a St. Petersburg address in a tax lien filed in June in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in Ohio.
What were Ricky Shiffer's motives?
Authorities have not released a possible motive for the breach. The incident came a day after FBI director Christopher Wray warned of online threats against agents and the Justice Department after the agency served a search warrant on Former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
USA TODAY reviewed the Ricky Shiffer Truth Social account and found angry reactions to the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Shiffer account posted:
"I'm having trouble getting information, but Viva Frei said patriots are heading to Palm Beach (where Mar A Lago is). I recommend going, and being Florida, I think the feds won't break it up. If they do, kill them." (Viva Frei is a right-wing YouTube personality.)
The same day, the account posted:
"People, this is it. I hope a call to arms comes from someone better qualified, but if not, this is your call to arms from me. Leave work tomorrow as soon as the gun shop/Army-Navy store/pawn shop opens, get whatever you need to be ready for combat. We must not tolerate this one."
On Thursday, after the attempted break-in at the FBI Cincinnati field office, the Shiffer account posted this at 9:29 a.m.: "Well, I thought I had a way through bullet proof glass, and I didn't. If you don't hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I., and it'll mean either I was taken off the internet, the F.B.I. got me, or they sent the regular cops while"
The post apparently ended mid-sentence.
A Twitter account in the name of Ricky Shiffer with a photo similar to the Truth Social account was also suspended Thursday.
What are Ricky Shiffer's ties to Jan. 6?
Shiffer was believed to have been present at the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, law enforcement told the Associated Press.
Law enforcement had been investigating Shiffer for months for his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection and an unrelated tip the FBI received in May, the New York Times reported.
Shiffer was not charged in relation to the insurrection, according to USA TODAY. He also does not appear in the Justice Department index of the prosecutions.
The bio on Truth Social also suggested Shiffer was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The bio made a reference to Ray Epps, the man at the center of a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory.
"I tried to explain to Epps that it would only make sense to go into the building if they approved the fraudulent votes," the bio reads.
Does Ricky Shiffer have a criminal record?
A search of court filings in Franklin County, Ohio showed two citations for traffic violations, one for a stop sign violation and another for speeding.
There was no record of any criminal or civil charges against Shiffer in Hamilton County where the crime occurred.
A search in the federal court database did not turn up anything on Shiffer.
Shiffer had a tax lien for $553.53 from the Ohio Department of Taxation filed June 17 in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
Ricky Shiffer served in the Navy
Shiffer served in the Navy aboard the submarine USS Columbia for five years as a fire control technician until he left the service in 2003, the Washington Post reported. The Navy has not responded to the USA TODAY's Network Ohio's request for records.
The Washington Post and New York Times also reported he served in the Army National Guard in Florida.
The idea that the mild-mannered Shiffer would be posting extremist rhetoric online, using Twitter or Trump’s Truth Social app bewildered his former neighbor. Squinting through the sun on Friday, McConnell was stunned by the turn of events.
"I wish (Shiffer) had gotten help."
USA TODAY reporter Will Carless contributed.
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