The white supremacist who killed three black people in a Jacksonville (Florida, USA) establishment in a racially motivated shooting before committing suicide on Saturday was a 21-year-old with no criminal record and had purchased his weapons legally. as indicated by the sheriff of the city, TK Waters, in a press conference.
The shooter, Ryan Christopher Palmeter, lived with his parents in an area on the outskirts of Jacksonville. His father found in the young man’s bedroom a suicide note, a will and “several manifestos” to his parents, the Police and the media in which he detailed his hatred for black people.
“He had no criminal history of any kind, nothing,” the sheriff said. “There were no warning signs.” The Police have only found one notice of domestic violence related to his brother. Waters has also specified that in 2017 Palmeter was in a mental clinic under a state law that authorizes entry into this type of establishment against the will of the patient during a mental health crisis.
In a statement, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, has remarked that Saturday’s shooting occurred on the same day as the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington led by Martin Luther King to demand civil rights and equality for the black population. “We must refuse to live in a country where black families going shopping or black students going to class live in fear of being shot because of the color of their skin.” has targeted.
The Attorney General (Minister of Justice), Merrick Garland, has also pointed out in a statement that his Department is investigating the shooting as a hate crime and a “racially motivated act of violent extremism”.
Before the shooting, Palmeter had loitered near Edward Waters College, a small college with traditionally majority black students, trying to get onto campus. A guard asked him for identification and when the young man refused to give it, he prevented him from entering the premises. “Later it was determined that this individual would participate in a shooting near the University,” the institution has indicated.
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As he was leaving, he was observed putting on a bulletproof vest and covering his face with a mask. He walked into the store, a branch of the Dollar General discount chain, and opened fire on a 52-year-old woman, Angela Michelle Carr, who was inside her vehicle parked in front of the store. Inside he shot Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre, 19, and Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29.
Palmeter was armed with a Glock pistol and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle on which he had painted swastikas white, in what was the 471st shooting in the United States so far this year, more than two a day. .
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