On Wednesday night, Rachelle Godfread was shopping at Martin’s grocery store in Elkhart, Indiana, when she and 20-year-old Krystle Dikes were shot dead. 22-year-old Shawn Walter Bair entered the store armed with a semi-automatic handgun and a hunting knife, apparently set on committing mass murder. Here’s what we know about Rachelle and the circumstances of her tragic death:
1. Police Believe She Was Chosen at Random
Sgt. Trent Smith of the Indiana State Police told the Chicago Tribune that a search of the gunman’s home turned up no evidence that her knew either of the victims. However, they do believe the killer’s actions were planned well in advance of Wednesday night. When police arrived Godfread and Dikes both already dead, lying twelve aisles apart.
2. Police Arrived Within Three Minutes of the First Call
Screenshot via ABC News
Two Elkhart Police officers happened to already be in the area of Martin’s on an unrelated call. They arrived to find Bair with his semi-automatic pointed at a shopper’s head, and succeeded in shooting Bair dead before he could take another life.
3. She Was a Mother
Godfread’s Facebook timeline features post referring to sons Joe and Mike.
Joe posted the news of her death to his Facebook earlier today.
4. Her Killer’s Facebook Was Filled with Warning Signs
Shawn Bair (Facebook)
Shawn Walter Blair’s Facebook timeline is filled, almost exclusively with posts expressing hatred and fantasies of murder:
One post from three years ago describes how “some ticking times bombs” are meant to go off:
how some ticking time bombs were meant to explode:
5. Godfread Shared Quotes On Facebook From Tina Fey and Mother Teresa
She shares Tina Fey’s “A Mother’s Prayer for Her Child,” which begins “First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbols for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.”
She also shares this, from Mother Teresa:
