The white gunman who fatally shot three black people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, before turning the gun on himself appears to have been inspired by the fifth anniversary of a similar local mass shooting.
Moments before Saturday afternoon’s rampage, the gunman, who has not yet been identified by authorities, texted his father to check his computer, which held “several manifestos” detailing his hatred of black people, police said.
Evidence has led officials to believe the gunman chose August 26 to strike to coincide with a 2018 shooting at a video game tournament that left two dead and nine injured.
David Katz, 24, a previous winner of the local Madden NFL annual tournament, opened fire on contestants before killing himself.
The latest shooting also comes just a day before the 63rd anniversary of Jacksonville’s most notorious racial incident, known as “Axe Handle Saturday.”
During that famous event, 200 members of the Ku Klux Klan attacked black protesters who were conducting a sit-in at a business where the white owner stopped them.
A man armed with an AR-15-style rifle with a swastika on it shot and killed three black men before turning the gun on himself on Saturday, in Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office
Police believe the shooting was partly inspired by David Katz, 24, who killed himself after fatally shooting two others and injuring nine during a video game tournament five years ago.
KKK members armed with clubs and axe-handlers, beat protesters as police watched and refused to act until black street gangs intervened. Only black people were arrested in the incident.
Saturday’s shooting also came within hours of the end of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, which celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King while renewing the call to crack down on hate crimes across the country.
Police have not said whether the two anniversaries played a role in the Jacksonville shooter’s planning.
“This shooting was racially motivated, and he hates black people,” Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters told reporters Saturday.
Jacksonville’s latest mass shooting happened at a Dollar General in a predominantly black community. Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK/Sipa USA
Members of the local community held prayers for the victims of the hate crime. AP
Waters said the suspect, who is in his 20s, was wearing a tactical vest and was carrying a Glock-style semi-automatic rifle and an AR-15 emblazoned with a swastika and other Nazi German symbols.
Officials said the gunman was seen wearing a mask at Edward Waters University, a historically black local college, on Saturday afternoon before entering a nearby Dollar General and killing two men and a woman.
He shot himself there before police arrived.
The gunman may have originally planned to shoot students at Edward Waters, but may have been scared away by security officers who told him to leave when he first arrived on campus, Waters said.
“This is a dark day in Jacksonville’s history. There is no place for hate in this community,” the sheriff said. “I am fed up with the personal ideology of this cowardly shooter.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who campaigned in Iowa, also described the shooter as a “coward,” labeling him a “scumbag” who took innocent lives.
“This man killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions. He took the coward’s way out,” the Republican said.
Federal authorities are investigating the attack, which they consider a hate crime and “an act of racially motivated violent extremism,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Sunday.
The FBI is currently investigating the shooting, with the killer leaving “several manifestos.” AP
Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters revealed on Saturday that the shooting was racially motivated. AFP via Getty Images
“The entire Department of Justice extends its deepest condolences to the victims’ loved ones and to the Jacksonville community as they mourn this unimaginable loss,” Garland said.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
