Ohio man kills neighbor because ‘he thought he was a Democrat’
A southwest Ohio man was killed by a neighbor who “thought he was a Democrat,” according to the victim’s shocked widow.
Austin Gene Combs confessed to shooting Anthony Lee King “several times with a revolver” while the 43-year-old victim and his wife were doing yardwork shortly before noon on Saturday, The Journal News reports.
The victim’s son called police to report the 26-year-old alleged shooter had come over “multiple times making statements” before killing his father in their Okeana, Ohio backyard.
“He’s insane,” the boy told a dispatcher, according to the Journal.
The victim’s wife reportedly told the dispatcher, “He has come over like four times confronting my husband because he thought he was a Democrat.”
She added that Combs had approached the victim four times before opening fire as she struggled to understand what had just happened.
“Why?” the woman asked. “Please, I don’t understand.”
The killing reportedly occurred when King’s wife came indoors to let the dog come inside. She heard gunshots, then saw Combs walking away as her husband laid dead.
The Journal News said Combs was booked on a murder charge and is being held on $950,000 bond in the Butler County Jail. He will appear in court Thursday.
Political violence leading up to Tuesday’s midterm elections has crossed party lines.
The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked in his home by an alleged hammer-wielding conspiracy theorist who falsely believed the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Prominent Republicans including Donald Trump Jr., whose father lost that election, joked about the assault on social media.
In late September, A North Dakota man was charged with using his automobile to kill an 18-year-old he believed to be part of a “Republican extremist group,” according to Law & Crime, which reports that killing followed a debate over politics.
