– He hated black people, says TK Waters of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Shortly before 2 p.m., local time, the perpetrator opened fire in the store. He was masked, wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with a handgun and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle – common in mass shootings.
The parents called the police
After shooting dead three people, two men and a woman, the man took his own life.
The suspected shooter is described by police as a white man in his 20s who lived at his parents’ home. Before the crime, he had sent out a manifesto to police authorities, the media and to his parents, according to Waters. There, the man’s “abhorrent hateful ideology” is said to have appeared clearly.
The parents received a text message from the son at 1:18 p.m. that they should check the computer. They called the police at 1.53pm – but by then it was already too late and the shooting had started.
Painted swastika
The perpetrator is believed to have acted alone.
– There is absolutely nothing to indicate that the shooter is part of a larger group, says TK Waters, who at the press conference showed pictures of the firearms, one of which had a swastika painted on it.
The federal police FBI has opened an investigation into hate crimes.