FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A 20-year-old Fort Wayne man was charged with attempted murder and criminal recklessness after allegedly livestreaming himself firing shots at customers at a Kroger store in Fort Wayne.
According to recently filed court documents, Richard K. Klaff Jr. allegedly began a Facebook Live recording around 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, May 23 while he was inside a second-floor bathroom at a Kroger store located on E. State Blvd in Fort Wayne.
Court documents say that Klaff told viewers of the livestream that he was planning to "shoot eleven people," showed a black and gold handgun and encouraged viewers to screen record the livestream.
After making sure the handgun was loaded, court documents say Klaff left the bathroom, walked downstairs into the main grocery area of the store. While walking around the store, Klaff allegedly asked his viewers to choose who he was going to shoot. When he passed an elderly man, he allegedly said "I ain't going to kill no old ass man."
While still walking through the store, Klaff allegedly claimed he was "going out with a bang."
The court documents go on to say that Klaff then allegedly walked toward the bakery section of the store while repeatedly saying "I see one." He then allegedly began firing shots at a female customer and two bakery workers. Klaff then allegedly ran away while shouting profanity.
Police say no one was injured in the shooting.
After running out of the Kroger, Klaff allegedly fled to a nearby Dollar General where he changed shirts and left his wallet and handgun in the dumpster. He was then caught and arrested by police behind a bank.
Police recovered a black and gold Smith and Wesson .40 caliber handgun from the dumpster as well as Klaff's cellphone and wallet. Crime scene investigators recovered six .40 caliber shell casings from the Kroger and also found two gunshot holes in the wall above the kitchen door of the store.
According to court documents, Klaff allegedly asked police at the beginning of his recorded interview if anybody had died. Klaff allegedly told police he had loaded eleven bullets into his gun and planned to shoot eleven people.
Police asked Klaff if he was looking for anyone specific to shoot. Klaff allegedly told police he didn't want to shoot anyone who was old before asking how many people were shot.
Court documents say detectives asked Klaff why he chose the people he shot at, to which he allegedly told police he chose people who were "standing in a position with no cover."
Klaff was quoted in court documents allegedly saying to police: "I always wanted to kill somebody, that's all I wanted to do. I was supposed to go to the military. I couldn't wait on that obviously."
According to online court records, Klaff is charged with three felony counts of attempted murder and one felony count of criminal recklessness. His initial hearing is scheduled for May 28 at 8 a.m.