The suspect took his own life by shooting himself with his own weapon
The mayor of the US city of Jacksonville, in the state of Florida, Donna Deegan, has confirmed that three people have died in a mass shooting with racial overtones that occurred this Saturday and that “it will be prosecuted as a hate crime,” as they have indicated. local authorities at a press conference.
“An individual whom we have not yet officially identified killed three people, two men and one woman, all black, before turning his gun on himself and taking his own life,” Duval County Sheriff T.K. Waters, assuring that “no other person has been injured.”
The incident occurred around 1:00 p.m. (local time, 7:00 p.m. in Spain) between the Kings Road and Canal Street roads, in the east of the city and relatively close to Edward Waters University, police sources have reported.
The shooter, a white man in his 20s who lived with his parents, drove to Jacksonville from where he texted his father telling her to look at his computer. In it he found several documents, which his son had described as “manifests”, and he notified the authorities.
“The young man left several manifestos, one for his parents, one for the media and one for the Federal Office. In them he reflected his disgusting ideals. He said he hated black people and wanted to kill ‘niggers,'” Waters explained.
The attacker used two weapons, a Glock pistol and an AR-15 rifle on which swastikas could be seen painted.
The first conclusions of the investigation reveal that there are no indications that the attacker was part of a larger group, “acting completely alone” and motivated by hate. “This shooting was racially motivated, I hated black people,” the sheriff has sentenced.
In brief statements collected by the media, Deegan has indicated that the shooting could be extremely serious. “This is unacceptable. One shooting is too much but these mass shootings are very difficult to take,” she said.
“The hatred that motivated his performance makes this tragic episode even more heartbreaking,” he said later at the press conference. “There is no place for hate in our community. We are actively investigating this tragedy, and even though the shooter is dead, we will continue to investigate the case to fully understand what happened and why he did it” in order “to bring justice to the next of kin.” of the victims”, assured the mayoress.
For her part, the city’s Police Chief, Keith Powers, has guaranteed that the investigation will last “as long as necessary” and that this crime “will be prosecuted as a hate crime.” These types of crimes “are a priority because they are not only an attack on specific people, but also threaten and intimidate an entire community,” he pointed out.
