Alexander Feaster was charged with shooting a woman who pulled down a swastika flag from his property. Photo: Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.

An Oklahoma man with a penchant for flying swastika flags and wearing Nazi uniforms remained in police custody on Wednesday, following an incident last Sunday in which he shot a woman who was attempting to remove one of the offending flags on display outside his home.

Alexander Feaster, 44, has been charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and shooting with intent to kill, and is due to appear in court on July 9.

Police officers in the town of Hunter, about 90 miles north of Oklahoma City, found the woman — identified as 28-year-old Kyndal McVey — lying in a ditch after she had been shot in the back by Feaster between three and five times with a 5.56mm rifle, Garfield County Sheriff Jody Helm said.

According to a police affidavit, McVey was approaching Feaster’s porch where a Nazi flag was hanging when he appeared brandishing a Colt AR-15 A2 assault rifle.

“Without warning, Feaster opened fire on Kyndal as she was running away from the residence,” the affidavit said. “On the video footage, it appeared that Feaster fired approximately 7-8 shots very rapidly, several of these rounds striking Kyndal. It is important to note that Kyndal did not appear to be in any way a threat to Feaster due to her obviously running away from his residence with only a flag in her hand.”

McVey is presently in hospital and is expected to recover from her wounds.

According to the police affidavit, she had been attending a party across the street from Feaster’s residence prior to the shooting incident.

Neighbors of Feaster described him as a isolated individual who kept to himself.

In an interview with local radio station KFOR, one neighbor said that Feaster had been flying the Nazi flags for about a year, and that they had been snatched on a few occasions.

Feaster was also occasionally spotted dressed in a black uniform with a swastika armband, the neighbor noted.

Roberta Clark — executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City — said that the incident underlined the importance of speaking out against hate symbols and hateful rhetoric, even when they are legally displayed.

“Hate incidents leave people upset and anxious, they get concerned about their security and the security of their own communities,” Clark told The Algemeiner on Wednesday. “It’s the responsibility of each of us to stand up and speak out against hatred, and the targeting of people based on their immutable characteristics.”

Clark stressed that in situations where concerned citizens see something illegal, or that they believe may be illegal, “the first call should be to law enforcement.”