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Jacksonville sheriff: Gunman kills three people in ‘hate-filled’ crime targeting Black people

Sunday, 27 August 2023 12:45 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 27 August 2023 2:41 AM ]

Emergency personnel surround a Dollar General store after a white man armed with a high-powered rifle and a handgun killed three Black people before shooting himself, in what local law enforcement described as a racially motivated crime, in Jacksonville, Florida, US, August 26, 2023. (Photo by Reuters)

A lone shooter has killed three people at a store in the southeastern US city of Jacksonville, Florida, in what local authorities described as a racially motivated crime.

Attending a press conference on Saturday, the city's sheriff, T.K. Waters, called the shooting a “hate-filled” crime against African Americans, adding that the unidentified shooter, who later killed himself, “hated Black people.”

He noted that the white shooter, who was in his early 20s, was armed with a high-powered rifle with swastikas on it, and a handgun.

According to the sheriff, the victims who were all Blacks, comprised two man and a woman.

Waters said the shooter is believed to have acted alone and there is no evidence to prove that he was part of a large group.

The sheriff said before the incident, the shooter had authored "several manifestos," detailing his hatred for Black people.

He added that a federal civil rights investigation has been opened into the incident, which will be pursued as a hate crime.

Gun violence in US: 4 killed, 6 injured in California mass shooting

Waters said the shooter was first seen at a local historically Black college where he put on his vest and a mask before going to the local branch of the Dollar General, which is a discount chain with stores across the country.

The Jacksonville shooting was the latest in a spate of gun violence this weekend in the United States.

Earlier on Saturday, at least seven people were hospitalized after a mass shooting at a Caribbean festival in the northeastern city of Boston.

In another incident, authorities in the Midwestern city of Chicago said two women were shot at a baseball game, while a 16-year-old student was shot dead and four others were injured after an argument erupted at a high school football game in Oklahoma.

Mass shootings have become disturbingly common across the United States, with easy access to firearms in most states and more guns in the country than citizens.

A late July report by Gun Violence Archive said the US has witnessed an average of two mass shootings every day so far this year, for a running total of 419 incidents.

The report noted that at the same point in 2021, only 401 mass shootings had occurred, and that year had an overall daily average of 1.9 mass shootings.

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