Left inset: Richard Lindgren (Orangeburg County Jail). Right inset: Benjamin Hawk (GoFundMe). Background: Louie”s Corner House bar in Buckeye Lake, Ohio (Google Maps).
A man singing karaoke at an Ohio bar was shot in the back of his head and killed by his girlfriend’s ex-husband, according to authorities.
Richard Lindgren, 59, stands accused of murder in the death of 42-year-old Benjamin Hawk, the Licking County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. Deputies responded shortly before midnight July 11 to a report of a shooting at Louie’s Corner House in Buckeye Lake. There, they found Hawk dead from a gunshot wound in the back of the head.
A criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime said Hawk and his girlfriend were on the outdoor patio singing karaoke when Lindgren approached the victim “from behind, pulled out a small handgun and shot [Hawk] in the back of the head.” Several bar patrons saw the shooting and called 911 and chased Lindgren, the affidavit said.
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Lindgren hopped in his vehicle and drove off. Police issued a nationwide be-on-the-lookout for Lindgren and his car. Cops some 550 miles away in Orangeburg, South Carolina, spotted Lindgren on traffic cameras July 12. They pulled him over and took him in custody. He is awaiting extradition back to Ohio.
The bar’s owner, Debbie Williamson, told The Columbus Dispatch she was sitting in the beer garden at the establishment when she heard a loud noise. At first she thought it was a firecracker but then saw patrons chasing Lindgren and realized it was a gunshot.
Hawk “got like three words out” of the song he was singing when he was shot, according to Williamson. Nothing like this has happened before at the bar that has been in her family for a half century.
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“It was very traumatizing,” she told the Dispatch.
Those who knew Hawk are remembering him fondly. His brother wrote in a GoFundMe post that Hawk leaves behind two children. He also was known as a talented karaoke performer.
“My brother was loved by many and never met a stranger; he had the ability to converse with any and everyone,” the post said. “He always looked out for those around him and would give his very last to someone in need, even if it meant he had to go without.”
