Authorities say a white man wearing a mask and brandishing a weapon with a swastika fatally shot three Black people Jacksonville, Florida, in what the city’s sheriff described as a racially motivated attack
A white man wearing a mask and firing a weapon emblazoned with a swastika gunned down three Black people Saturday in what the sheriff described as a racially motivated attack in Jacksonville, Florida. The shooter, who had also posted racist writings, then killed himself. Here’s what is known about the killings:
WHERE AND WHEN DID THE SHOOTING TAKE PLACE?
The shooting happened Saturday afternoon at a Dollar General store in New Town, a predominantly Black neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida. The store is near Edward Waters University, a historically Black school with about 1,000 students. The school said the man was spotted on campus by a security guard shortly before the shooting and asked to leave when he refused to identify himself. He was seen putting on his bullet-resistant vest and mask before he drove away. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said Sunday that it does not appear that he intended to attack the school.
WHO WAS THE SHOOTER?
Ryan Palmeter, 21, who lived in neighboring Clay County with his parents. Sheriff Waters said Palmeter had been involved in a 2016 domestic violence incident that did not lead to an arrest and was involuntarily committed for a 72-hour mental health examination the following year. Palmeter used two guns — a Glock handgun and an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
