White gunman kills 3, himself in ‘racially motivated’ shooting at Florida store

In a tragic incident that unfolded on Saturday, three individuals were killed in a shooting at a Dollar General store located in Jacksonville, Florida. Authorities have termed the attack as being "racially motivated." The victims, all of whom were Black, were targeted by the assailant, who later killed himself with a gunshot,due to his "disgusting ideology of hate", according to Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, media reports said.

The white man in his early 20s, who has yet not been identified, carried out the attack armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun. He was donning a tactical vest. His victims, two men and a woman, were shot before the assailant turned the gun on himself. The suspect's actions were explicitly driven by hatred towards Black individuals, Sheriff Waters stated.

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The individual under suspicion is thought to have resided in Clay County along with his parents. Prior to the shooting, he reportedly sent a text message to his father, according to the sheriff's statement. "At 1:18 pm,he texted his father and told his father to check his computer," Waters said adding, "At 1:53 pm,the shooter's family members called the Clay County Sheriff's Office. By that time, he had already began shooting in Jacksonville."

"This is a dark day in Jacksonville's history," Waters said in condemnation of the hate crime adding,"As a member of this Jacksonville community, I am sickened by this cowardly shooter's personal ideology of hate."

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Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said, "We must do everything that we can to dissuade this type of hate."

A very cowardly act: Governor Ron DeSantis

Law enforcement agencies are investigating it as a hate crime. The FBI Jacksonville field office is assisting with the investigation. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis condemned the attack and labeled it a "very cowardly act." "This shooting based on the manifesto that they discovered from the scumbag that did this was racially motivated," DeSantis said in a video statement adding, "He was targeting people based on their race. That is totally unacceptable."

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The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and prominent civil rights figures responded to the tragedy with strong condemnation. Civil rights leaders, including Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and Arndrea Waters King, along with Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of ADL, issued a joint statement condemning the act and highlighting the ongoing danger posed by hate-fueled violence.

"This hate is abhorrent, detestable, beyond humanity, and must be condemned by all. We all need to come together in solidarity in standing up to the evils of white supremacy and intolerance of all forms. Such bigotry should have no place in our society. And it is a reminder that the hate-fueled violence that Dr. King called out sixty years ago and that we condemned today from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, aren't antiquated concerns, but remain a clear and present danger that threatens us all," the statement said.

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