Authorities say 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmetter let white people out of the store before barricading himself in an office and shooting himself to death.
The shooting of three Black people at a Dollar General store in Florida by a white gunman is being investigated as a hate-filled crime, the Department of Justice announced.
The Jacksonville mass shooter, 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmetter, was spotted on the campus of the historically Black college, Edward Waters University. Palmetter left the campus after he was confronted by campus security guard LT Antonio Bailey.
“I was not able to see a weapon at that time. However, I did see what appeared to be a tactical vest,” Bailey said. “I just thank God I was there.”
The campus was put on lockdown as Palmetter drove to a Dollar General store a quarter of a mile away.
Surveillance video shows Palmetter firing 11 times into a car, killing the 52-year-old driver, Andrea Michelle Carr. Video then shows the shooter entering the store and killing two more victims, 19-year-old Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., and 29-year-old Jerrald De’Shawun Gaillion.
After allowing white customers in the store to escape unharmed, Palmetter barricaded himself in an office and texted his father to break into his room at home, according to authorities. That is when his father found a hate-filled racist manifesto.
When his parents saw the manifesto, they called the police.
Police said Palmetter shot himself to death.
Palmetter’s rifle was marked with swastikas.
At a vigil held for the Jacksonville victims, Florida governor Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey, were booed.
“Your policies caused this,” someone shouted.
