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Cincinnati FBI attacker grew up on central Pennsylvania farm

By: - August 12, 2022 4:21 pm
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(Getty Images)

The gunman who tried to breach the FBI field office in Cincinnati on Thursday grew up on a farm in Perry County, in central Pennsylvania, The Washington Post reported. 

Ricky W. Shiffer fled after he attempted to break into the FBI office’s visitor screening area, the agency said. He led police on a chase that ended in a six-hour stand-off when he stopped on a rural road outside Cincinnati.

Shiffer, 42, was shot and killed by police after he raised a gun, authorities said. 

Citing a relative who declined to be identified, the Post reported that Shiffer was the oldest of four children. His father was a mechanic and his mother worked for an insurance company.

After graduating from high school in Perry County, Shiffer left the small family farm to join the U.S. Navy, where he was a fire-control specialist aboard a submarine.

Shiffer was a prolific poster on former President Donald Trump’s social media site, Truth Social, where he called for “all-out war” after the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate Monday in Palm Beach.

Several news organizations reported an account with Shiffer’s name had more than 300 posts on the site, including incitements to violence against the FBI. It appeared that Shiffer posted about his attempt to breach the bullet-proof glass at the FBI office just after the incident.

“If you don’t hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I.,” the post said. 

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Peter Hall
Peter Hall

Peter Hall has been a journalist in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for more than 20 years, most recently covering criminal justice and legal affairs for The Morning Call in Allentown. His career at local newspapers and legal business publications has taken him from school board meetings to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and many points of interest between. He earned a degree in journalism from Susquehanna University.

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