- White male shooter was outfitted with a tactical vest.
- He targeted certain group of people, that’s Black people.
- There were 2 male victims, one female victim: Sherrif.
Authorities said Saturday that as many as three black people were fatally shot including a woman after an armed suspect entered a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida and went on to kill people with an AR-style rifle before shooting himself.
Sheriff TK Waters said in a news conference Saturday: “The shooter, a white male in his early 20s, was outfitted with a tactical vest and armed with an AR-style rifle and a handgun when he started firing inside a Dollar General discount store.”
“He targeted a certain group of people and that’s Black people. That’s what he said he wanted to kill. And that’s very clear,” the sheriff said.
“There were two male victims and one female victim,” according to the sheriff.
“Manifestos discovered by the gunman’s family shortly before the attack detail the shooter’s disgusting ideology of hate,” he told reporters.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan earlier told local broadcaster WJXT: “There are a number of fatalities inside the store.”
Earlier, Officials were not able to provide an exact number of people killed in the Jacksonville store shooting.
The city’s fire department spokesperson Eric Prosswimmer told CNN the department was on standby to treat victims.
A number of police officers are in the area near Edward Waters University, a small historically Black university.
Deegan told the media: “This is unacceptable. One shooting is too much but these mass shootings are really hard to take.”
The shooting was the latest in a spate of gun violence this weekend in the US, following deadly outbursts in Boston, Chicago and Oklahoma.
