A white man shot and killed three black people inside a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday in what police are calling a “racially motivated” crime.
“He hated black people,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said at a news conference late Saturday, according to the Associated Press. Investigators said the shooter sent writings to federal law enforcement and at least one media outlet before the attack outlining his motives.
“There is absolutely no evidence the shooter is part of any larger group,” Waters added.
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The shooter killed himself after opening fire in the store, police said. His identity has not been released, but authorities did say he is a white man in his 20s. He reportedly used a Glock handgun and an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle, onto which he had painted a swastika. He was also wearing a bullet-resistant vest.
The shooting took place around 2 p.m. near the campus of Edward Waters University, a small, historically black institution situated in a predominantly black neighborhood in Jacksonville. The city’s mayor told a local television station about the shooting earlier this evening but could not confirm the exact number of people killed.
Police said the gunman drove to Jacksonville from Clay County, where he lived with his parents. Shortly before the attack began, he texted his father, instructing him to check his computer. The father found the gunman’s writings and called 9-1-1, though by that time it was too late to stop the shooting.
“This is a community that has suffered again and again. So many times, this is where we end up,” said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. “This is something that should not and must not continue to happen in our community.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) denounced the shooter as a “scumbag.
“This guy killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions. He took the coward’s way out,” DeSantis said, according to the Associated Press. He was in Iowa on Saturday as part of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
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Students at Edward Waters University were being kept inside their dormitories as a precaution as police responded to the scene of the shooting, the school said in a statement. No students or faculty are believed to be involved, the Associated Press reported.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
