Hate Crime
A racially-motivated shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, ended the life of three innocent people. The incident took place Saturday afternoon at a Dollar General on Kings Road, according to FBI agents. The one to blame is yet to be identified. However, officials did mentioned the shooter lives in Clay County with his parents. And he was described as a young White men in his early 20s.
The fatal racially-motivated shooting involved two Black men and a Black women who were unfortunately the ones killed at the shooting. Despite the tragedy of three people dying, no one else was wounded at the scene.
Furthermore, the suspect was also known to be wearing a vest, mask, and was armed with a Glock and an AR-15 style rifle. The guns also was decorated with a swastikas.
Afterward, the shooter killed himself with a self inflicted gun. Sheriff Waters from the crime scene says, “He targeted a certain group of people, and that’s Black people.”
Backing up the fact that the shooting was racially-motivated.
Moments Before The Incident
Before the tragic incident unfolded, the shooter was seen wondering blocks away from Edward Waters University shortly after 1 p.m. — a historically Black school where students were told to stay inside.
Additionally, prior to the shooting the shooter texted his father and asked him to “check his computer.” Where the father later on discover documents described by detectives as a manifestos. After the discover the father immediately contacted detectives.
Unfortunately despite every attempt to stop the tragedy from happening, moments after the police where notify about the intended shooting, The gunman had already started his attack at the Doller General.
The Shooter
More information found on the shooter shows that prior to the racially-motivated shooting in 2016 the shooter was involved in a domestic call with no arrest. This evidence was confirmed through the Baker Act in 2017, according to a sheriff. After his detainment under the Baker Act he should have been unable to obtain a gun. Since, normally people detained under this act are unable to purchase a firearm.
The writings belonging to the shooter as mentioned above. Also, indicated that he was aware of the mass shooting that had taken place at Jacksonville gaming event five years earlier. Due to this piece of evidence, police suspect that his intentions where to coincident his own attack with the anniversary of the prior attack.
Speaking out
People have already started speaking out their opinion and anger towards the racially-motivated shooting. For instance the State Representative Angie Nixon said in an interview:
“These are things that we want to try to avoid by making sure that our communities are fully resourced, making sure we’re creating a climate of love and not tension,” Nixon expressed.
An additional statements also said, “This type of violence is unacceptable in our communities.” Demonstrating the communities anger and disbelief towards the killer for racially targeting and shooting three innocent people because of their skin complexion. Despite this people are also coming together to offer their support towards the families affected in any way possible.
Written by Nohemi Sanchez
Sources:
CNN: 3 people dead after gunman targeted Black people in Jacksonville, Florida, officials say
CBS NEWS: 3 killed in racially-motivated shooting at Dollar store in Jacksonville, sheriff says
NEWS4JAX: Hate crime: 3 killed in shooting at Jacksonville store by gunman with swastika-painted AR-1
Featured Image Courtesy of Marco Verch Professional Photographer Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Images Courtesy of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Flickr Page – Public Domain
