Ohio FBI shooting - latest: ‘Violent extremist’ Ricky Shiffer investigated for months after Jan 6

Well, that didn’t take long.

The diehard Donald Trump fans on r/TheDonald, a popular (and often NSFW) Reddit page, are claiming that the armed threats against an FBI field office in Ohio today were “staged.”

As NBC News reporter Ben Collins reports, nearly “every top post” on the page at the moment has some version of the conspiracy theory.

Speculation about the FBI has been flying in conservative circles since the Justice Department raid on Donald Trump earlier this week.

ICYMI: Farmer Rob Thompson was stunned this morning as a blazing police chase sped past his farm in Wilmington, Ohio.

“I thought, since we are by the interstate, that they were just chasing a speeder,” Mr Thompson told The New York Times.

But it was far from just a speeder. Instead, officers are still in pursuit of an armed man who allegedly threatened an FBI office in Cincinnati this morning.

The farmer said he wasn’t worried for his safety.

“He could be in the cornfield or a thicket of trees nearby, but they have him contained,” he continued.

ICYMI: The hours-long standoff on Thursday between Ohio police and an armed man accused of threatening a Cincinnati FBI office has ended, according to county officials.

The Clinton County Emergency Management Agency announced that “law enforcement operations and response has ended. Some operations will continue on-scene,” in a terse update on Thursday evening.

It’s unclear whether the individual was arrested, killed, or otherwise.

ICYMI: An hourslong 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.

“Law enforcement operations and response has ended,” Clinton County Emergency Management Agency announced on Thursday.

It’s unclear whether the individual—who allegedly fired a nail gun and brandished an assault rifle at FBI agents, and later shot at police—has been arrested, killed, or otherwise.

Police are now probing whether the man, unofficially identified by two anonymous law enforcement sources in The New York Times as Ricky Shiffer, 42, has any ties to the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol in 2021.

Social media accounts appearing to belong to the man indicate he was present in Washington on 5 and 6 January for pro-Trump demonstrations, and claimed to have been present at the storming of the Capitol.

More details to come on this breaking news story.

ICYMI: Police have shot and killed Ricky Shiffer, 42, an armed man who threatened an Ohio FBI office on Thursday morning, leading to a prolonged car chase and standoff throughout the day.

Here’s the Ohio State Patrol announcing what happened.

FBI investigators are probing Ohio shooting suspect Ricky Shiffer’s presence on social media platforms, and whether he had any links with right-wing extremism, CNN reported, citing a source.

The officials are also looking into whether the suspect had any connection with any of the groups involved in the Capitol riots and if he was himself involved in the violent attack, reported CNN citing a separate federal law enforcement source.

According to a Truth Social account reported to belong to the shooting suspect, Shiffer referred to making an attempt to storm an FBI office and also urged others online to brace for a war for revolution, the report added.

Ohio native Ricky Shiffer was shot and killed by the law enforcement officers on Thursday afternoon after he launched an attack on an FBI field office in Cincinnati.

The 42-year-old suspect was armed with a nail gun and an assualt rifle.

Resident of Columbus, Shiffer had reportedly posted a string of violent remarks on his social media account on Truth Social in the recent months leading to the attack.

Josh Marcus reports:

ICYMI: Officials have identified Ricky Shiffer, 42, as the armed man who threatened the Cincinnati field office of the FBI.

Officers shot and killed Shiffer after a prolonged standoff in a cornfield near Wilmington, Ohio.

Police reportedly tried to negotiate with the individual and use non-lethal tactics to arrest him, before the 42-year-old raised a gun at officers and was killed, the Ohio State Patrol said.

Ohio shooting suspect Ricky Shiffer is being labeled as a “suspected domestic violent extremist”, authorities have reportedly said.

The report by ABC’s chief investigative reporter Josh Margolin on Frida cited law enforcements officials who have been briefed on the probe.

Shiffer, who was shot dead by the FBI, allegedly threatened the investigative agency’s office in Cincinnati on Thursday around 9am, firing a nail gun at staff and brandishing an AR-15-style rifle, before driving away.

ICYMI: FBI Director Christopher Wray called Thursday’s attack on an Ohio FBI office “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.”