The Florida man who police say killed three black people in a Jacksonville dollar store before killing himself was “introverted and socially awkward” and lived with his parents, according to former classmates and neighbors.
Ryan Palmmeter, 21 — who opened fire on the Dollar General on Saturday afternoon with two guns, including an AR-15-style rifle painted with a swastika — had struggled socially growing up, according to Andres Sanchez, a former classmate.
Palmmeter is “involved in internet humor” and “introverted and socially awkward,” he told News4Jax.
“I sometimes go over to his house and play video games,” said Sanchez, who is reportedly two years older than Palmer and lives across the street from his family’s home in suburban Orange Park, Florida.
Another neighbor, who had never met Palmmeter but knew his parents well, speculated to the store that he was on medication.
“From what I understand, he was taking medication and for some reason, he missed it maybe a few days or a few days before. That was probably when he snapped,” said the man identified as Greg.
Ryan Christopher Palmer, 21, was motivated to kill three black people at the Jacksonville Dollar General because of his hatred of people of color, police said. via REUTERS
“His parents are the kind of people who help anyone, anytime, anywhere. And it’s a tragedy when that happens,” he reportedly added.
Angela Michelle Carr, 52, store worker Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., 29, and Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 19, were killed in the shooting, Jacksonville County Sheriff TK Waters said at a news conference Sunday.
Palmer left a nearly 30-page violent manifesto addressed to his parents, the media and the feds, according to Waters.
Palmer fired 11 shots into a car outside the store, killing Angela Michelle Carr, 52, police said. Facebook.
After going on a rampage, the suspect went to the store’s office and texted his father to “use a screwdriver to get into my room,” Waters said.
“Father went into the room and found the last will and suicide note on his laptop,” he said.
The text to her father came too late for anyone to stop the gruesome murder, according to police and neighbors of the family.
Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29, was killed during the ongoing rampage at the store, police said. Family Distribution
“By the time they got the note from him, saying that he was going to do this or think about doing this. It was too late. By the time they called the Clay County Sheriff, he had already done the shooting,” Greg told the station.
“The manifesto is frankly the diary of a madman,” Waters said, adding that Palmmeter was detained for a three-day emergency mental health evaluation in 2017 under the state’s Baker Act, but had never been convicted of a crime and had purchased a firearm that used in legal rampages.
“He’s completely irrational … but he’s 100% clear. He knows what he’s doing,” Waters said.
The gruesome carnage was caught on camera.twitter
Palmer, dressed in a tactical vest, mask and gloves, fired 11 shots at Carr as he sat in a car in the store’s parking lot at 1:08 p.m. before entering and fatally shooting Laguerre, officials said.
The suspect then followed the fleeing witness out the back before returning to the store and shooting and killing Gallion, who entered through the front with his girlfriend, according to Waters.
He then chased a woman through the store and shot her, but missed, police said.
The scene of the murder, which happened just after 1pm on Saturday.Getty Images
Palmmeter’s neighbor, who identified himself to News4Jax only as Greg, speculated that the suspected killer had stopped taking his medication.
Palmmeter then retreated to the store’s office, where he turned the gun on himself, 11 minutes after the racial rampage began, police said.
“There’s no flag that could have come up to stop him from buying that gun,” Waters added.
“That’s where the difficulty lies. When someone holds a gun with, with, hateful intent, it’s very difficult to prevent that from happening.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey, bow their heads during a prayer at a vigil for victims of Sunday’s mass shooting.AP
Officials believe Palmmeter chose to launch his attack five years after a 2018 shooting at a video game tournament that left two people dead and nine injured.
The massacre also came a day before the 63rd anniversary of the city’s infamous “Ax Handle Sunday,” when 200 Ku Klux Klan members armed with clubs and axes attacked blacks protesting being barred from white-owned businesses.
In that incident, the police stood by and refused to intervene until black street gangs came to defend the protesters. Only black people were arrested in the incident.
“His sickening ideology does not represent the Jacksonville community that we love so much. We are not a community of hate,” Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters told the media.Getty Images
“Our community is struggling to understand why this atrocity happened. I urge all of us not to find sense in senseless acts of violence. There is no reason or explanation that would account for the shooter’s decision and actions,” Waters said.
“His sickening ideology does not represent the Jacksonville community that we love so much. We are not a hate community. We are united with the good and kind people of this city. We reject this unforgivable violence.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
