Four people were killed in a shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, including the perpetrator, in what authorities are calling a racially motivated crime.
According to Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, the shooting occurred on Saturday at the intersection of Kings Road and Canal Street in Jacksonville, Florida. The shooter, who has not been identified, entered a Dollar General shortly after 1 p.m. with a handgun and an AR-15-style rifle. He was also wearing a tactical vest.
A SWAT unit was reportedly sighted in the vicinity of a Dollar General assisting with a potential standoff involving an armed suspect who was locked inside the establishment.
Two men and one woman were killed, according to Waters, who also noted that they were all Black. He claimed that the suspect killed himself after killing the three victims.
“Plainly put, the shooting was racially motivated and he hated black people,” Waters said.
Waters said the shooter had authored “several manifestos,” with one to his parents, another to media, and a separate one to federal agents, adding that portions described the suspect’s “disgusting ideology of hate.”
According to the sheriff, the suspect texted his father at 1:18 p.m. to check his computer. At 1:53 p.m., his father called the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, but the Jacksonville shooting had already started at that point.
According to Waters, the unidentified suspect was thought to have lived in Clay County, Florida, and was involved in a domestic call in 2016 that resulted in no arrests. In addition, the person had a Baker Act in 2017.
According to a state government website, the Baker Act in Florida offers people “emergency services and temporary detention for up to 72 hours for mental health examination pursuant to Florida Statute Chapter 394.”
Swastikas were discovered on the firearms used in the shooting, according to Waters.
Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, referred to the incident as “totally unacceptable.”
“The shooting, based on the manifesto that they discovered from the scumbag that did this, was racially motivated. He was targeting people based on their race,” he said. “This guy killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions. And so he took the coward’s way out. But we condemn what happened in the strongest possible terms. We’ve offered support for Sheriff Waters and the city of Jacksonville, and we send our condolences to the victims and their families who are the victims of a very cowardly act.”
Fox News was informed by the White House that President Biden has received a briefing on the shooting.
During the news conference, FBI Jacksonville Field Office Special Agent in Charge Sherri Onks stated that her agents are helping with the investigation and have “rushed to the scene” to support local law enforcement.
Onks stated that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime and that the Department of Justice has launched a federal civil rights inquiry.
