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Racial writings linked to Pittsburgh hate killings

Reports appearing in American media today said Richard Baumhammers, who killed five people, including an Indian, in suburban Pittsburgh on Friday, was influenced by racial literature.

Authorities probing the killings said that they found racially tinged writings and literature that may ultimately help explain what drove a man of privilege to allegedly go on a shooting spree that killed five people.

Richard Baumhammers, 34, a lawyer from Mount Lebanon, has been apprehended and charged with criminal homicide and reckless endangerment.

Police are now investigating racial literature found at the suspect's home to determine whether he had ties with any white supremacist or hate groups, Zappala said.

The shootings took place in a 32-km range through suburbs surrounding Pittsburgh in the span of an hour on Friday afternoon.

Baumhammers fatally shot a person of Indian descent at an Indian grocery store, two employees at a Chinese restaurant and a black man at a martial arts school. A Jewish woman who lived next door to the suspect's parents was also found dead in her home.

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