NNA – US authorities announced that an assailant motivated by racial hatred opened fire, killing three black individuals in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday before taking his own life following a confrontation with the police.nbsp;
Sheriff T.K. Waters stated that the shooter, a white man in his early twenties who remains unidentified, was wearing a tactical vest and armed with an quot;ARquot; rifle and a handgun when he began firing inside a Dollar General store.nbsp;
He added, quot;He targeted a specific group of people, and they were black. Those were the ones he said he wanted to kill. And that is very clear,quot; indicating that the three victims were two men and a woman.nbsp;
Waters mentioned in a press conference that messages found by the assailant#39;s family just before the attack quot;elaborate on his repulsive hate ideology.quot; He pointed out that one of the gunmen had hand-drawn swastikas on him. He said, quot;We know that he acted entirely alone.quot;nbsp;
The shooting occurred near Edward Waters University, historically attended by black students in this southern American state.nbsp;
The university stated in a release that a campus security officer had observed an quot;unknownquot; man near the university library quot;and asked him to leave.quot; This man – later identified as the shooter – left the campus quot;without any incident.quot;nbsp;
The Federal Bureau of Investigation will investigate the shooting as a hate crime, according to Sherri Onks, special agent in charge of the Jacksonville FBI office.nbsp;
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis condemned the quot;horrificquot; shooting, describing the assailant as quot;scum.quot; DeSantis, seeking the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential race, said, quot;He was targeting people based on their race, and that is simply not acceptable.quot;nbsp;
He added, quot;This individual took his own life rather than face his punishment and be accountable for his actions, so he took the coward#39;s way out.quot;nbsp;
This shooting is the latest in a series of armed violence incidents during the weekend in the United States.nbsp;
The White House stated that President Joe Biden received a briefing on the events that occurred in Jacksonville and other shooting incidents that took place within 24 hours.nbsp;
Mass shootings have become alarmingly common across the United States, as firearms are easily accessible in most states, and their prevalence among citizens is increasing.nbsp;
Earlier on the same day, at least seven people were taken to the hospital after a mass shooting during a Caribbean festival in Boston in the northeastern part of the country, according to the police.nbsp;
Two women were shot and killed during a baseball game in Chicago the previous night.nbsp;
On the same night, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed, and four others were injured in a fight during a high school football game in Oklahoma, according to local police. — AFP
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