JACKSONVILLE, FL - A tragic and hate-filled incident occurred last Saturday when 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter entered a Dollar General store in Jacksonville and shot multiple people, who were targeted for the color of their skin.
Reports were soon confirmed that the shooting was racially motivated by Palmeter’s anti-black agenda.
Palmeter, who killed three black people during his rampage, left behind manifestos explaining his hatred for black people. He also had swastikas drawn right on the firearm he used for the murders.
As Law Enforcement Today previously reported, Sheriff T. K. Waters shared information with the public quickly to make sure it was understood that the shooter “acted completely alone” and that there was no further danger to the community.
Prior to Palmeter completing his kills, he texted his father, telling him to look in his room, where his father located a will and suicide note, including his manifestos written to his parents, police, and the media. His father called 911 after the discovery, but it was too late.
Sheriff Waters said the manifesto detailed his “disgusting ideology of hate.”
His father also told police that Palmeter had been under psychiatric care and it appeared he hadn’t been taking his medication. He flunked out of college and had been “pretty much been living in his room,” according to his father, after being fired from his job at Home Depot.
Prior to going to the Dollar General store, Palmeter drove to Florida’s first historically black college, Edward Waters University, and started to put on tactical gear, including a vest, gloves, and mask. Students there told campus security, who escorted Palmeter off the campus and reported the incident to the police.
The shooting took place about 10 minutes an several blocks from the store parking lot.
Sheriff Waters said based on video footage from a previous Dollar store, Palmeter was deterred from that location because of a security vehicle.
He said it appeared that Palmeter didn’t want confrontation, and that he didn’t want to be stopped from doing what he went there to do. “He had a goal in mind,” the sheriff said.
The victims who died at the hands of Palmeter were 19-year-old Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., 29-year-old Jerrald Gallion, and 52-year-old Angela Michelle Carr.
Palmeter shot and killed himself about the time of police arrival.
“His actions [that day] were not just a hate crime. They were a performance for all the world to see,” Juliette Kayyem of the Atlantic wrote.
Reports were soon confirmed that the shooting was racially motivated by Palmeter’s anti-black agenda.
Palmeter, who killed three black people during his rampage, left behind manifestos explaining his hatred for black people. He also had swastikas drawn right on the firearm he used for the murders.
As Law Enforcement Today previously reported, Sheriff T. K. Waters shared information with the public quickly to make sure it was understood that the shooter “acted completely alone” and that there was no further danger to the community.
Prior to Palmeter completing his kills, he texted his father, telling him to look in his room, where his father located a will and suicide note, including his manifestos written to his parents, police, and the media. His father called 911 after the discovery, but it was too late.
Sheriff Waters said the manifesto detailed his “disgusting ideology of hate.”
His father also told police that Palmeter had been under psychiatric care and it appeared he hadn’t been taking his medication. He flunked out of college and had been “pretty much been living in his room,” according to his father, after being fired from his job at Home Depot.
Prior to going to the Dollar General store, Palmeter drove to Florida’s first historically black college, Edward Waters University, and started to put on tactical gear, including a vest, gloves, and mask. Students there told campus security, who escorted Palmeter off the campus and reported the incident to the police.
The shooting took place about 10 minutes an several blocks from the store parking lot.
Sheriff Waters said based on video footage from a previous Dollar store, Palmeter was deterred from that location because of a security vehicle.
He said it appeared that Palmeter didn’t want confrontation, and that he didn’t want to be stopped from doing what he went there to do. “He had a goal in mind,” the sheriff said.
The victims who died at the hands of Palmeter were 19-year-old Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., 29-year-old Jerrald Gallion, and 52-year-old Angela Michelle Carr.
Palmeter shot and killed himself about the time of police arrival.
“His actions [that day] were not just a hate crime. They were a performance for all the world to see,” Juliette Kayyem of the Atlantic wrote.
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