The FBI has opened up a hate crime investigation after three Black people were killed in Dollar General on Kings Road. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — *WARNING: This report contains language some may find offensive
Four people are dead after being shot Saturday at Dollar General on Kings Road. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said the shooting was racially motivated. The shooter, a White male from Clay County who has not yet been identified, turned the gun on himself after killing the three Black people in the store, Waters said.
Clay County Sheriff’s Office called JSO at 11:39 a.m. Saturday letting them know the shooter was en route to Jacksonville, Waters said. At 1:18 p.m., the shooter called his father and told him to check his computer. The suspect’s family then called the Clay County Sheriff’s Office at 1:53 p.m., Water said.
It was too late. The suspect had already walked into the store at 2161 Kings Road armed with a Glock and an AR-15 style rifle and wearing a tactical vest, Waters said at a 6:30 p.m. news conference Saturday. Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, who also attended the news conference said the shooter’s rifle had swastikas on it.
“He wanted to kill [n-word]” Waters said adding that he wants the community to know exactly what happened. “That’s the one and only time I’m going to use that word,” he said.
The sheriff said the shooter authored several manifestos. “One to his parents, one to the media, and one to federal agents,” Waters said. “Portions of these manifestos detail the shooter’s disgusting ideology of hate. Plainly put … he hated Black people.”
The names of the victims have not been released. Waters said they are two males and one female.
The shooter had past run-ins with Clay County authorities including a domestic call in 2016 in which he wasn’t arrested and a Baker Act in 2017. Waters said there is no information that the shooter acted as part of any larger group and he acted alone.
“I’m heartbroken,” Deegan said. “This is a community that has suffered again and again. We must do everything to dissuade this type of hate.”
Sherri Onks, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Jacksonville Field Office, also attended the Saturday news conference. She said her office is investigating the shooting as a hate crime.
“No life should ever be lost to this kind of violence,” she said. “Immediately upon learning about the shooting, FBI agents rushed to the scene to assist our partners at JSO … every FBI resource will be brought to bear to aid in this investigation.”
Onks said the FBI is coordinating with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
“Hate crimes are always and will always remain a top priority for the FBI because they are not only an attack on a victim but they are meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community,” Onks said.
Saturday’s mass shooting comes five years to the day four people were killed in a mass shooting at The Jacksonville Landing.
