A person with a gun hurt and killed three black people because of their race in Jacksonville, Florida and afterwards, took their own life. The city’s sheriff shared this information.
The man, who was described as being white and in his early 20s, went into a Dollar General store and started shooting, which caused a situation where he was trapped by the police.
Sheriff T K Waters said the gunman, who was wearing protective clothing, killed two men and a woman and also left behind written explanations.
Mayor Donna Deegan said it was a crime filled with hate, caused by racism.
The sheriff said the person who shot – whose name has not been officially announced yet – had a light and easy-to-use rifle and a handgun.
People think he did it by himself and supposedly wanted to kill himself. He stayed in Clay County in Jacksonville with his parents and left multiple notes about his plans, according to Sheriff Waters. This included a message to his parents and another one to the media. The police officer said that one of the guns had a symbol called a swastika drawn on it.
The FBI is looking into the shooting as a potential hate crime and investigating whether civil rights were violated.
The attack occurred very close to Edwards Waters University, which is a historically black college.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan expressed to a local TV station called WJXT that even one shooting is unacceptable, but multiple mass shootings are extremely difficult to cope with.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the person who fired the gun a “terrible person” and described the shooting as very terrible.
“According to Mr. DeSantis, who is running for the Republican party’s presidential candidate, it is completely unacceptable that the gunman was choosing his victims based on their race. ”
This person chose to end his own life instead of facing the consequences and admitting his mistakes, which is considered a cowardly decision.
The White House said that President Joe Biden was informed about the shooting.
Dollar General is very sad and upset about the violent incident that happened at our store on Kings Road. We want to help and support our employees in Jacksonville who were affected by this tragedy, and we are working closely with the police to handle the situation.
According to the Gun Violence Archive website, more than 28,000 people have been killed by guns in the US this year.
The attack in Jacksonville happened on the same day as the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s well-known “I have a dream” speech. Tens of thousands of individuals came together in the capital on Saturday to celebrate a significant achievement in the fight for equal rights.