Two of the people shot inside a New Albany warehouse said they saw Bruce Foster approaching the office they were in on the night of Feb. 4, 2025, but they had no idea he was going to shoot them.
Foster, 30, is charged with aggravated murder, felonious assault, inducing panic and other charges related to the shooting at the KDC/ONE warehouse, located on the 8000 block of Smith's Mill Road in the Licking County portion of New Albany.
His attorneys waived his right to a jury trial, so Licking County Common Pleas Court Judge David Branstool is hearing the evidence and will render a verdict.
Foster's legal team contends that he has a serious mental disease and was not capable of understanding that what he was doing was wrong. He underwent several psychological
evaluations and initially was found not competent to stand trial. After treatment, he now meets the legal standard to stand trial.
Prosecutor says Foster 'had a plan'
Kyle Vaver, 38, and Shekhar Chapagai, 30, died in the shooting while four others suffered nonfatal injuries.
Foster had worked for the company for about eight months and was on the verge of being fired, Assistant Licking County Prosecutor Tyler McCoy said.
McCoy said Foster targeted certain coworkers he believed to be responsible for his impending firing but walked past others without shooting them.
"He knew that bullets would kill people. He knew he was firing bullets from a handgun at people. He had a plan to kill and he followed through with it," McCoy said.
Brandon Shroy, one of Foster's attorneys, said five different psychologists have diagnosed Foster as having schizophrenia with paranoia and delusions. He said Foster was having a prolonged delusion at the time of the shooting in which most people's reality did not exist but his did.
Shroy said the coworkers Foster shot were "unwitting participants" in Foster's delusion and did nothing to deserve what happened to them.
"This is not about what happened, it's about why," Shroy said.
Witness said he should have shot Bruce Foster after shooting
Two of the witnesses who were inside an office at the warehouse when Foster entered and began shooting testified on Aug. 24. Sagar Wagley and Govin Sharma, who were both shot but survived, talked about seeing Foster come into the office and shoot Chapagai, then shoot Wagley.
Sharma said he saw Foster aim at Wagley a second time and tried to grab the barrel of the gun in Foster's hands.
"I was behind him, hugging him from behind, trying to get the gun away," Sharma said.
During a struggle, Sharma was able to point the handgun toward the ceiling, where one shot was discharged. Foster then pointed the gun at Sharma, with a bullet hitting his lower jaw and traveling through his neck.
Sharma testified that he and Foster fell to the ground, at which point he was able to pin Foster and grab the gun completely away.
"I should have shot him," Sharma said.
After the shooting, Foster left the warehouse in a rideshare vehicle. He was taken into custody the next day at his apartment in Columbus.
Foster is charged with four counts of aggravated murder and murder, two counts of attempted murder and aggravated burglary, six counts of felonious assault and one count of inducing panic. If found guilty of all charges, he faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison with no opportunity for parole.
What happened at KDC/ONE warehouse?
Employees described Foster as acting strangely on the night of the shooting. He was not wearing proper safety equipment and walking in an abnormal manner, according to records reviewed by The Dispatch.
According to a civil lawsuit filed by victims and their families, management at the warehouse knew Foster had been acting strangely and previously threatened violence.
There were plans for Foster to be fired and his job had been posted online while Foster was still employed, according to the lawsuit.
The night of the shooting, the lawsuit says Foster's bag was not searched by security and he showed obvious signs of being intoxicated. Security let him in with a temporary security badge, according to the lawsuit.
After taking a break around 10 p.m., Foster re-entered the building smelling of marijuana and acting erratically, the lawsuit says, before he retrieved a handgun from his unsearched bag and began firing on coworkers. Security did not sound any alarms inside the building or alert workers to the unfolding situation, the lawsuit says.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Witnesses describe scene at New Albany warehouse as Bruce Foster trial begins
