At least three victims and the suspected gunman are dead following a "racially motivated" mass shooting at a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida, the local sheriff confirmed Saturday evening.
During a press conference, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) Sheriff T.K. Waters referred to the mass shooting as "heartbreaking" and said that three victims had lost their lives "at the hands of an active shooter" who was driven by hate and racism.
The victims include two males and one female, all of whom are Black, Waters said, adding that authorities are not releasing more details about the people killed at this time.
Waters said the suspect, a white man in his 20s, shot and killed himself after the attack.
The sheriff said that investigators had uncovered multiple "manifestos" – one for the shooter's parents, one for the media and one for federal agents - from the suspected gunman's home where he lived with his parents in Clay County. Waters said they would not release additional information about the suspect, including his name or age, until they confirm his identity.
"Portions of these manifestos detail the shooter's disgusting ideology of hate," Waters said. "Plainly put the shooting was racially motivated, and he hated black people. He wanted to kill n******. That's the one and only time I'll use that word. I want to be very clear that there's absolutely no evidence that the shooter is part of any large group. We know that he acted completely alone."
Waters provided details on the shooting, saying the suspect texted his father just before 1:20 p.m. and told him to check his computer. Roughly a half hour later, around 1:53 p.m., the shooter's family called police but it was too late, the sheriff said.
Shortly after 1 p.m. the suspect, outfitted with a tactical vest and armed with an AR-style rifle and a handgun, entered a Dollar General in Jacksonville's New Town neighborhood and started shooting, according to the sheriff. After barricading himself inside the store, the suspect turned the gun on himself, "taking his own life," Water said. Other than the three victims and the shooter, no other people were shot in the incident.
"This is a dark day in Jacksonville's history," Waters said. "Any loss of life is tragic, but the hate that motivated the shooter's killing spree adds an additional layer of heartbreak. There's no place for hate in our community, and this is not Jacksonville. As a member of this Jacksonville community, I'm sickened by this cowardly shooter's personal ideology of hate."
The sheriff said that homicide detectives are actively investigating the shooting and will continue to do so until they uncover why the motive and have a full "understanding of what happened."
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said during the press briefing that she was at the scene and that she's "heartbroken" over the mass shooting.
"It's it's just something that should not and must not continue to happen in our community," she said.
Saturday's incident occurred on the fifth anniversary of the Jacksonville Landing mass shooting, Deegan noted. The 2018 shooting at a video game tournament claimed the lives of three people, including the gunman, and wounded a dozen others.
"He was aware of that and and perhaps chose this date in alignment with that," the mayor said. "So there's a lot there's here, but as the sheriff said, this was a hate filled crime and we just shouldn't have that kind of hate in Jacksonville."
The mayor pointed to an image of one of the suspect's guns, which had a swastika painted on it, saying: "We must do everything that we can to dissuade this type of hate."
Newsweek reached out to Deegan for comment.
Jacksonville Councilman Rahman Johnson said the shooting was a tragedy in a phone interview with Newsweek on Saturday. During the interview, the councilman said he was at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office waiting on more information from local law enforcement as well as the FBI.
"It's a tragedy," Johnson told Newsweek. "I was on the scene. There are people who are still waiting for information about their loved ones."
Johnson said additional details about the suspect, including the person's identity and the motive, have not been released, but he confirmed to Newsweek that the shooter left behind a manifesto.
"We're still waiting on details about why, that's always the big question, 'why?'" he said.
Statistics from the Gun Violence Archive, which track incidents where three or more victims are killed, show that 471 mass shootings have ravaged the United States so far this year. If initial reports of three or more victims are correct, Saturday's incident would become the nation's 472 mass shooting. Deegan called the incident in her city "unacceptable."
The FBI is investigating the shooting as a hate crime, Sherri Onks, special agent in charge of the bureau's Jacksonville office, said during the press briefing.
"We have opened a federal civil rights investigation, and we will pursue this incident as a hate crime," Onks said.
Update 8/26/23, 5:25 p.m. This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 8/26/23, 6:05 p.m. This article has been updated with additional information and comment from Johnson.
Update 8/26/23, 8:05 p.m. This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 8/26/23, 10:40 p.m. This article has been updated with information and a photo from JSO.
