Using a high-powered rifle and a handgun, a white man killed three black people at a Dollar General Store in Jacksonville, Florida over the weekend in a racially motivated attack, according to law enforcement.

The suspect has not yet been publicly identified, but is deceased after shooting himself following the violent Saturday attack, Reuters reports. Moreover, the shooter wore a tactical vest before killing two men and a woman.

“This shooting was racially motivated, and he hated Black people,” said Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters in a statement to the press. “The hate that motivated the shooter’s killing spree adds an additional layer of heartbreak.”

The shooter is believed to have acted alone, and before the shooting, wrote “several manifestos” which detailed his racial hatred for black people. The individual used a Glock and an “AR-15 style” rifle that was decorated with swastikas.

Per Reuters:

He said the shooter was spotted at a local historically Black college, Edward Waters University, where he put on his vest and a mask before going to the local branch of the Dollar General, a discount chain with stores across the United States.

Sherri Onks, special agent in charge of the Jacksonville FBI office, said federal officials had opened a civil rights investigation and would pursue the incident as a hate crime.

‘Hate crimes are always and will always remain a top priority for the FBI because they are not only an attack on a victim, they’re also meant to threaten and intimidate an entire community,’ Onks said.

The post BREAKING: Jacksonville Gunman Kills Three Using An AR-15 Styled Rifle Decorated With Swastikas In Racially Motivated Shooting first appeared on Mediaite.

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/udBv5qH