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Group asks for investigation into possible racial bias in triple shooting

(Supplied/FWPD)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Was a fatal shooting in Fort Wayne last week a hate crime?

Two 19-year-olds were killed and a third victim seriously hurt after 32-year-old Joseph Bossard allegedly opened fire outside a gas station last Wednesday.

He’s been charged with murder and aggravated battery, but local activist group ChangeMakers tells the Journal Gazette they’re asking officials to look into possible racial motivations behind the attack.

RELATED: Two killed, one injured in shooting

The father of one of the victims has said that he feels they were specifically targeted because of their skin color. The victims were Black; Bossard is caucasian.

Police have not released a motive for the shooting, but court documents say the three got into an argument with Bossard, who left the store, then came back with a gun and fired at their car.

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9 comments

D S February 23, 2021 at 8:32 am

Not every crime that takes place against a “person of color” is racially motivated. Although activist groups and the media would like to lead you to believe that. And not every “victim” is without fault in certain situations.

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DS2 February 23, 2021 at 12:36 pm

Were you there?

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Ash February 23, 2021 at 10:20 am

You don’t know shit all victims do not start mess. But what made the man so made over teens? now if my black ass would have killed 2 white teens what would you say?

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Doc March 6, 2021 at 11:09 am

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Finance Wizard February 23, 2021 at 3:37 pm

Check the killer’s social media accounts and check his associations.

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Todd February 24, 2021 at 7:49 pm

Rumor has it this man was mad at the world and caused trouble with neighbors regardless of skin color. He also lost his father in July 2020 due to covid.
I found that out by Google.

Let’s just comment on pages not knowing anything and put out hypotheticals.

The young men were good people and just got into it with the wrong person.
You cannot make sense on senseless crimes.

No doubt Anderson’s dad is upset and has a right to think that way . LOOK at what we see pushed on T.V. what we see on T.V.

I understand his feelings though.

I’m sure since jaylin rice is alive, he will be able to let us know more of the motive as we are expecting him to recover after three surgeries and one kidney.

Lets do better as a society. Lets bring positivity.

Lets all pray for Mr Rice’s recovery!

God Bless Joshua Cole Cooper
And
God Bless Anderson Retic
Let’s pray for their souls as well!

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Rahfever February 25, 2021 at 7:49 am

He wouldn’t have came back and killed 3 white boys, his social media will tell it all and so will the store clerk and cameras.

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Rocky February 25, 2021 at 2:04 pm

Its a good idea to look at possible racial motives. All crimes should be investigated as to racial motive and prosecuted accordingly whether its a white guy shooting a black guy or the other way around.

If Change Markers truly want real change, I expect Change Makers to equally be interested in possible Racial Motives if the circumstance were reversed.

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Ray March 21, 2021 at 9:53 am

I don’t know why people defend this guy. What he did was heinous. He literally took the future of three lives. Though one may live he will have trauma and physical problems for the rest of his life. For what!? Asking the guy to buy them alcohol. I went to a heavily religious high school in the Fort and many of my peers asked strangers to buy them alcohol. Guess what? They weren’t killed, in fact, they were usually successful.

What he did was premeditated. He had time to leave it be and nothing those kids said or did should have resulted in them losing their life.

As such, that facts are this! Fort Wayne is not as progressive a people think. Secondly, we have a major problem with White Supremacy as a whole in our society. Even Chad Wolf, Gina Haspel, and Christopher Wray have all confirmed this. The DHS wrote an extensive report on this stating, “the biggest domestic terrorist threat is white supremacist/far-right militia groups”.

And when you look at data it’s evident hate crimes are at a all-time high, in fact an 18 year high. Further evidence shows a 25% increase of hate crimes committed against Asian-Americans. These hate crimes are overwhelmingly perpetrated by White Americans against minorities. Being empathetic I understand the father’s plight for it to “at the very least be investigated or looked into” with regards to a hate crime. I don’t blame the families for reaching out to Lee Merritt or Shaun King or GrassRootsLaw because Karen Richards and the FWPD did show their ’s this summer. Having a National spotlight causes them to have pressure and re-evaluate how they do things.

Reality is people of color DO NOT trust the law enforcement or justice systems AND historically it’s for good reason. For me personally Ahmaud Arbery’s case sums it up perfectly. Travis and Gregory were free for months. It was literally because of Gregory’s connections with the DA’s office and law enforcement. In this obvious and multiple abuses of power, you had law enforcement involved, 2 DA’s involved and an ME. All protecting one another, all of them lying, and all of them attempting thwart or delay justice.

I pray for the families of these kids. I pray Karen Richards, the FWPD and the legal system of Fort Wayne, IN do the right thing. I pray they don’t give this guy an special privileges or leniency. That he is prosecuted to the “fullest extent of the law”. I pray they do right by these families by looking at every possible motive and getting all the answers they require. And I pray that the residents in our community wake up and take off the blinders AND stop defending this man.

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