Jacksonville shooting

Police said a gunman opened fire at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday afternoon, killing three people and then killing himself.

Jacksonville Police T.K. Description of the unnamed attacker. Water left a "manifesto" as a white man in his early twenties. “Simply, this attack is racist and hates black people,” Waters said at a press conference on Saturday night, adding that racism was at the center of the issue in addition to the situation. Another layer of passion. Victim

(two men and a woman) has yet to be identified, but Waters has confirmed they are black. He said no one was injured in the clash.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the Justice Department was investigating the attack as a hate crime and "a racially motivated crime".

Waters said the attacker is believed to be in Clay County and traveled to Jacksonville, about 40 miles north, on Saturday.

The gunman tried to pass Edward Waters University, a nearby black university, before going to Dollar General. Director A. Zachary Faison Jr. He said school security confronted the attacker and escorted him out of the school.

Edward Waters and several black universities received anonymous threats on the first day of Black History Month last year. "This is not an accident. We know these are targeted attacks," said

Faison.

Gunmen wearing antiterrorism vests attacked stores selling firearms and ammunition. In the pictures of the weapons shared at the press conference, it was seen that the swastika was drawn on the sides of the weapons.

Waters said the gunman had sent his father before he was shot and shared parts of three reports—one to his family, one to the media, and a third to government officials. About 30 minutes later, the family called the local police, but the attack started just then.

Waters added that the killer acted alone: "There is no evidence that the killer was part of a larger group." FBI agents are at the scene and the federal government has launched a civil rights investigation with plans to make the case a hate crime. . Criminal investigation.

Police said the gunman was involved in a home visit in 2016 but was not arrested and had a Baker warrant against him in 2017. Florida law allows people to go to hospital for mental health treatment.

Local media reported heavy police presence at stores on Kings Road in the northwest neighborhood of College Gardens as of 1:00 pm. Saturday. Students at Edward Waters University have been asked to stay in their dorms until the facility is cleared.

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan told local TV station News4JAX that the gunman barricaded the store. "This is a community that has suffered many times. Many times we have succeeded," Deegan told reporters at a news conference. "This is racism. We don't deserve this racism in Jacksonville."

Saturday's shooting took place when a gunman who opened a poker tournament in Jacksonville five years ago killed himself after killing two people and wounding 11 others.

- 60 years after the death of Martin Luther King Jr., the day thousands gathered in Washington DC to support racial justice. Lead the March for Jobs and Freedom in Washington. Dozens of prominent speakers cited the rise in racism as proof that the king's dream was at stake.

Isaiah Rumlin, head of the Jacksonville chapter of the NAACP, called on Saturday to increase security to protect the black community from the violence of racism. Section

tightens state no-carry laws; This law allows people to legally carry firearms without the need for education, license fees, and background checks.