A shooting at a Florida Dollar General store in Northwest Jacksonville which left three black people dead was ‘racially motivated,’ officials say.
The incident, which also saw the white gunman die from a self-inflicted gun wound, on Saturday is being investigated as a hate crime by the FBI and local authorities.
The suspected shooter, in his 20s, used an assault rifle covered in Nazi swastikas in the attack, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
He is said to have sent a manifesto which detailed his racial hatred to police, media and his parents before the attack.
Emergency services, including a SWAT team, rushed to the scene on Kings Road, at around 1pm on Saturday.
Sheriff T.K. Waters said the gunman ‘hated black people’ and ‘wanted to kill “n******”.’ He described the shooting as a ‘dark day in Jacksonville’s history’.
There were unconfirmed reports and photographs on Saturday night circulating around the suspected gunman’s identity. But police are yet to confirm his name.
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