On Wednesday, a white man shot and killed two black people at a Kroger supermarket in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. Now evidence has surfaced that suggests the shooter may have been motivated by race. Police have not identified a motive. The suspect, 51-year-old Gregory Bush, is in custody. According to the New York Times, Bush shot and killed 69-year-old Maurice Stallard in the Kroger store, then walked out of the store and shot and killed 67-year-old Vickie Lee Jones in the store parking lot. An armed bystander shot at Bush; then Bush tried to escape before he was caught by police. Police said that prior to the Kroger shooting, Bush had tried to get into a predominantly black church, the First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown. About eight to 10 people were in the church at the time, Billy Williams, the church administrator, told the Times. He reportedly aggressively pulled on the church’s front doors but drove off after he couldn’t get in. The details bring back the specter of the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting, in which a self-described white supremacist shot and killed nine people — all of whom were black — at a predominantly black church. In an interview with local media, the son of a witness also claimed that the Kentucky shooter told his dad, “Whites don’t kill whites.” (Most murders of white people are committed by other white people, according to FBI data.) Police have not confirmed the claim. Bush had a criminal history, including assault and domestic violence. He also had mental health issues, which he was seemingly public about on social media. And he may have made racist comments before — repeatedly using the n-word to insult his ex-wife, based on court records reported by the local news outlet WDRB.com. Police are investigating whether Bush legally obtained the gun he used in the shooting, given his past. Bush faces two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment, although the charges could change as the investigation continues. One charge that could be added, if police find the crime to be racially motivated, is a hate crime charge. To prove that, police and prosecutors would have to demonstrate that Bush’s specific crimes — meaning the murders and shooting — were motivated by prejudice. Over the past two decades, the FBI reported between 6,000 and 10,000 hate crimes each year in the US. But when the US Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) surveyed large segments of the population between 2007 and 2011 to try to gauge the real number of hate crimes, it concluded that there are nearly 260,000 such crimes annually. So the FBI, although it’s supposed to be our most reliable source of current nationwide crime data, is potentially undercounting hate crimes by a magnitude of more than 40 times. Yet short of the BJS doing another in-depth survey and analysis on this issue, the FBI provides the best national data we have for more recent years. The result, though, is we really don’t have a good idea of how common potentially racist attacks like Bush’s may be — and whether such attacks are becoming more common. For more on hate crimes, read Vox’s explainer.<doc-sep>A gunman who killed two people at a Kroger supermarket in Jeffersontown, Ky., on Wednesday tried to enter a predominantly black church minutes before the attack, the police said on Thursday. The man, Gregory Bush, 51, of Louisville, was arraigned Thursday on two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment. He was ordered held with bail set at $5 million. The victims, Vickie Lee Jones, 67, and Maurice E. Stallard, 69, were both black, while Mr. Bush is white. The United States attorney for the Western district of Kentucky, Russell M. Coleman, said in a statement on Friday that his office was investigating the attack as a possible hate crime. The son of a witness said his father heard the gunman make a racist remark during the episode, though the police said they could not confirm that account. The police said there was no indication that Mr. Bush knew either of the victims, nor did he have any known connection to the grocery store. Mr. Bush has a history of mental illness, Chief Sam Rogers of the Jeffersontown Police Department said at a news conference on Thursday. Court records show that he also had a long history of domestic violence charges, and had previously been barred from possessing a firearm.<doc-sep>A gunman who killed two people at a Kroger supermarket in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, on Wednesday tried to enter a predominantly black church minutes before the attack, police have said. The man, Gregory Bush, 51, of Louisville, appeared in court on Thursday, charged on two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment. He was held with bail set at $5m (£3.9m). Police said they were investigating the motive for the attack, in which Vickie Lee Jones, 67, and Maurice E Stallard, 69 were killed. Both were black, while Bush is white, and the son of a witness said his father heard the gunman make a racist remark during the episode, though police said they could not confirm that account. Bush has a history of mental illness, Chief Sam Rogers of the Jeffersontown Police Department said at a news conference on Thursday. Police said there was no indication Bush knew either of the victims, nor did he have any known connection to the grocery shop. Chief Rogers and church officials said surveillance video had recorded Bush’s unsuccessful attempt to enter the nearby First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown shortly before the attack. Billy Williams, the church administrator, said eight to 10 people were inside the church when Bush arrived after a midweek service. A church member in the parking lot grew alarmed when she saw him aggressively pulling on the historic church’s front doors. Bush drove away after less than 10 minutes. “There were 70 people here at our weekly meeting service just an hour before he came by,” said Mr Williams, who was among them. “I’m just thankful that all of our doors and security was in place.” He added that they were praying for the families of the victims. Both had relatives who attended the church, which recently celebrated its 185th anniversary. After leaving the church, police said, Bush headed to the Kroger. They said he entered just before 3pm and fired multiple rounds at Stallard. He then exited and fired at Jones in the parking lot, Chief Rogers said, striking her several times. 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A white man who killed two people at a Jeffersontown, Ky ., Kroger earlier this week at first tried to enter a predominantly Black church just minutes before his attack, police say, according to the New York Times . Gregory Bush, 51, was arraigned on Thursday on two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment, and was ordered to be held on $5 million bail. Currently, officers are still trying to determine a motive for the attack which killed two Black people, 67-year-old Vickie Lee Jones and 69-year-old Maurice E. Stallard. The son of a witness claimed that his father heard Bush make racist remarks during the incident, however police have not been able to confirm this. Police said that there is also no indication that Bush knew either of the victims, or that he had any connection to the Kroger grocery store. However, police did recover surveillance footage that showed Bush trying to get into the First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown just before he opened fire in the Kroger. A church member who was in the parking lot saw Bush aggressively pulling on the church’s doors, before driving away. “There were 70 people here at our weekly meeting service just an hour before he came by,” Billy Williams, the church administrator told the Times. “I’m just thankful that all of our doors and security was in place.” About 8 to 10 people were inside the church when Bush tried to get in, according to Williams. He then turned his attention to the Kroger where he entered and fired several rounds at Stallard. He then left the store and opened fire on Jones in the parking lot. Bush was stopped by an armed bystander who shot at him. He attempted to flee but was eventually caught by officers. Bush allegedly told the gunman who intervened that “whites don’t kill whites,” but Police Chief Sam Rogers was unable to confirm that tale. Bush, according to reports, struggled with mental illness, and had a long criminal history that included charges of assault, domestic violence and threats that included the use of racial slurs. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are helping Jeffersontown police with the investigation, as they work to figure out whether the weapon Bush used was legally obtained.