Four people were killed in a shooting Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida. The attack was racially motivated, given that the shooter, a 20-year-old white male, murdered three people of color before taking his own life. The assailant had reportedly written manifestos before committing the crimes.
TK Waters, the city’s sheriff, held a news conference in which he communicated the details of what happened. “This is a dark day in Jacksonville’s history. Any loss of life is tragic, but the hate that motivated the shooter’s killing spree adds an additional layer of heartbreak. There’s no place for hate in our community, and this is not Jacksonville. As a member of this Jacksonville community, I am sickened by this cowardly shooter’s personal ideology of hate.”
As for the gunman’s writings, Waters said they “detailed the shooter’s disgusting hateful ideology.” “Plainly put, this shooting was racially motivated, and he hated Black people.”
From the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department:
“Portions of these manifestos detail the shooter's disgusting ideology of hate. This shooting was racially motivated and he hated black people.” pic.twitter.com/GDBRg937Ak
— . (@suttonimpaQt) August 26, 2023
According to Sherri Onks, the FBI special agent in charge in Jacksonville, authorities have already opened a federal civil rights investigation into the incident and will pursue it as a hate crime.
Ron DeSantis also spoke out about the shooting. In addition to regretting what happened, he described the murderer as “cowardly” for choosing his victims because of the color of their skin. “This was racially motivated. He was targeting people based on their race. That is totally unacceptable”, he said in a video. The governor of Florida also expressed his support for Sheriff Waters for the actions of law enforcement.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Jacksonville shooting: "The scumbag who did this was racially motivated, he was targeting people based on their race" pic.twitter.com/roGMt2jnAQ
— BNO News (@BNONews) August 26, 2023
The mayor of the city, Donna Deegan, said she was heartbroken by what happened while noting that the date coincides with the fifth anniversary of the Jacksonville Landing shooting that left two people dead and ten wounded. According to her, the shooter was more than aware of this coincidence.
“This is a community that has suffered time and time again. Many times, this is where we end up. It is simply something that should not and should not continue to happen in our community. Too often it’s the same people,” she told a news conference.
