Armed Man Who Tried to Enter FBI Field Office Attended January 6 Riot, Was Angered by Mar-a-Lago Raid

An armed man who was killed by law enforcement Thursday afternoon after he attempted to breach an FBI field office in Cincinnati is believed to have been present at the Capitol during the January 6 riot and seems to have been motivated by the FBI raid on former president Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

Suspect Ricky Shiffer, 42, reportedly arrived at the FBI building armed and wearing body armor on Thursday morning around 9:15 a.m. and attempted to breach the visitor screening facility, FBI Cincinnati said in a statement.

An alarm was triggered and the man fired a nail gun at personnel before fleeing with an AR-15 -style rifle in a vehicle headed for the Ohio interstate. Ohio State Highway Patrol followed in pursuit, multiple law enforcement sources told NBC News.

The suspect fired at police cars as they tracked him down and then got off the highway, stopping near Smith Road in Clinton County, a rural area. There, police officers and the suspect exchanged gunfire in a standoff. Police tried to negotiate and use “less lethal tactics” but were unsuccessful in containing the suspect, Lieutenant Nathan Dennis, an Ohio State Highway Patrol spokesperson, said at a press briefing.

Shiffer was fatally shot after he raised a gun toward police at around 3:00 p.m. Thursday, Dennis said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The confrontation came after the FBI conducted a surprise search of Mar-a-Lago, the Florida residence of former president Trump, on Monday with a search warrant, claiming alleged mishandling of classified documents. Schiffer seemed very aggravated by the incident on social media, expressing some words of militancy on Trump’s platform Truth Social in the days after. His account reportedly called on people to prepare for “combat” and kill FBI agents “on sight.”

Authorities said Shiffer was seen at the Capitol on January 6, although it’s unclear whether he was part of the crowd that stormed the building, said three people assisting law enforcement who saw him in photos. He was not charged with any crimes tied to January 6 incident, a law enforcement official told NPR.

The FBI on Wednesday claimed there has been an increase in social media threats to bureau personnel and facilities, vaguely blaming “recent media reporting on FBI investigative activity.” Speculation has swirled this week about the reason the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, leading to suspicion and distrust of the agency by some Americans who saw the bust as unprecedented and potentially unmerited.

“Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday.