COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Statehouse leaders are grappling with the latest mass shooting, with the House speaker expressing confusion on how to handle these types of attacks. Democrats say a good start would be gun safety regulations.
The suspected killer in a workplace mass shooting Tuesday night outside of Columbus was found in Downtown Columbus Wednesday morning, according to New Albany Police. Bruce Reginald Foster III has been charged in Licking County with aggravated murder.
He was an employee of the KDC/ONE, a cosmetics manufacturer, where the shooting occurred, according to police.
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This workplace violence reminded state Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) of a scarring event from two decades ago. At a Jeep plant in Toledo in 2005, a disgruntled worker shot his boss and multiple others before taking his own life.
"These are tragic experiences because my brother worked there at the time and I had to make that phone call and make sure my brother was safe," Williams said.
Police say Foster's motive isn’t clear — but what is clear to Williams is that something needs to change.
"We've been exploring that topic of when you have a mass shooting, when you have more than one victim in an intentional shooting — should there be requirements of how things are charged?" he said.
He has been looking into creating a separate crime of mass shooting, so if there are multiple victims, you could also be charged with an additional offense. This could then automatically trigger the state to go for the death penalty.
"These are death penalty eligible cases that should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," the representative added. "Capital punishment needs to not only be available but enforced. It should be expedited, it should be enforced and if I had my way — it would be televised."
But Democrats and a handful of Republicans have argued that the state should be working on the front end to prevent these types of attacks.
"Any tragedy is one too many when it comes to gun violence and if there are things that we can do to prevent that and make it easier for law enforcement also to do their job, and protect public safety and keep guns off of our streets," House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said.
Russo argued that her caucus has been introducing bills for years that would combat gun crime, such as expanded background checks in order to buy a firearm. But tragedy after tragedy, policies around guns have only loosened in the state.
"We have a lot of people who get access to guns who shouldn't have access to guns, and part of that has been because of some of the policies that have been passed here in the Statehouse," she continued.
GOP leadership disagrees.
"These kinds of things that happen; are they entirely preventable?" House Speaker Matt Huffman said. "I wish... I don’t think I have an answer for that."
Huffman said that, unfortunately, "you can’t stop every tragedy." Russo argued that this kind of shooting will continue happening without change from the lawmakers.
I've been covering gun policy for years. Here is how lawmakers reacted during the last few mass shootings.
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