Mass Shooting In Jacksomville Leaves 3 Dead, Shooter Targeted Black People

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three people are dead after what Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said was a “racially-motivated” shooting that is being called a hate crime by the FBI at a Dollar General on Kings Road that prompted heavy police and SWAT response in Northwest Jacksonville.

The sheriff confirmed that the man who killed numerous people in a mass shooting with an AR-15, which had swastikas drawn on it and a Glock was seen on Edward Waters University’s campus moments before gunfire erupted.

The shooter, who has not been identified, lives in Clay County with his parents, Waters said. He was involved in a domestic call with no arrests in 2016 and was also confined through the Baker Act in 2017, according to the sheriff.

According to Waters, two Black men and a Black woman were killed. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot, and no one else was injured, the sheriff said.

By 1:18 p.m., the shooter sent a text to his father, telling him to check his computer, Waters said. That’s when the shooter’s parents called the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and told deputies they found a manifesto in their Oakleaf home.

Waters said three manifestos were written that expressed a “disgusting ideology of hate.” They were written, according to the sheriff, to the media, his parents and federal agents.

“To plainly put, this shooting was racially motivated and he hated Black people,” Waters said. “This is a dark day in Jacksonville. Any loss of life is tragic, but the hate that motivated the shooter’s killing spree adds an additional layer of heartbreak.”