Billy Booth, Crete, Nebraska man shoots neighbors, hitting 7, including 4 children. Victims, all of whom were Hispanic had run ins with the the gunman who previously told his neighbors ‘to go back to where they came from’ and ‘to speak English.’
A 74 year old Nebraska man is alleged to have shot at seven people, including four children — all of whom are believed to be Hispanic — after previously telling them to ‘go back to where they came from’ and to ‘speak English.’
Billy Booth, 74, fired shots at his neighbors from inside his Crete home just before 7 p.m. Friday before fatally turning the gun on himself, Nebraska State Patrol said in a release.
There were about 15 people inside and outside the home, with most of the victims outside when they were shot. Three of the victims were adults between the ages of 22 and 43 while four were children ranging in age from 3 to 10, KETV reported.
Volatile prior history
Some of the victims have been treated and released. One is receiving treatment in Lincoln, while two are being cared for at Children’s Nebraska in Omaha. None of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries.
All of the victims are believed to be Hispanic, according to NBC News.
When police arrived, they found victims suffering from gunshot wounds outside the residence as well as the suspect inside his own home. A shotgun was recovered nearby.
Police said they did not believe there was a dispute in the moments leading up to the shooting but that Booth and the family had a volatile prior history, including disputes over parking and other nuisances — as well as a report from someone who said the suspect ‘told them to go back to where they came from and to speak English.’
The Crete Police Department told of having previously responded to ‘several complaints’ in the neighborhood since 2021, most of which came from Booth regarding ‘driving behavior’ in the neighborhood, Crete Police Chief Gary Young Jr. said during a Saturday news conference.
Racially motivated?
‘Not necessarily associated with the victims’ house, but cars driving too fast in the neighborhood, improper parking, nuisance properties, quality-of-life type issues,’ Young said. ‘There was a single report from the victims that the suspect had flipped them off, told them to, ‘Go home’ or ‘back to where they came from,’ to ‘speak English.”
Police said the family decided not to take the matter further at the time, and the situation had been resolved.
Asked if there could be a racial element to the shooting, Young said, ‘There could be, we don’t know.’
‘Certainly the context of ‘Go home’ and ‘Speak English’ lends itself to that,’ he said.
One of the victims’ friends, Joshua Morales said he believed the shooting was racially motivated.
‘[Booth] was supposedly telling [the friend’s] parents to go back to their country, and they got into problems. And I guess until now the dude just shot the house up. I guess it was just a racist thing that happened,’ Morales told KETV. ‘So, I guess the dude that shot them was just racist ’cause he shot a Hispanic family and he told a Hispanic family to go back to their country.’
A motive for the shooting remains under investigation, police said.
The shooting remains under investigation.
