A man fatally shot three people inside a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida Saturday in a predominately Black neighborhood in an attack that the local sheriff called “racially motivated.”
“He hated black people,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said. “There is absolutely no evidence the shooter is part of any larger group.”
Waters said the shooter used a Glock handgun and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle with at least one of the firearms painted with a swastika.
The shooting took place just before 2 p.m. near Edward Waters University, a small historically Black university, and the suspect had reportedly driven there from neighboring Clay County.
Resident Penny Jones said she worked at the store a few months before and lived just blocks away.
“I’m just waiting to hear about my co-workers that I used to work with,” Jones said. “I don’t know if it’s safe to move about the neighborhood.”
“I don’t want to leave my house. I’m thinking, do I want to go back to the store? Is this going to start happening more frequently? I don’t know what the cause of it is. I’m confused. It’s a lot of different feelings going on right now,” she continued.
From Newsmax:
The deadly shooting took place within hours of the conclusion of a commemorative March on Washington in the nation’s capital, where organizers drew attention to the growing threat of hate-motivated violence against people of color.
