Police announced on Sunday that at least four people, including a shooter, were killed in a racially motivated shooting in the US state of Florida.
The shooting took place in Jacksonville at a Dollar General store, blocks away from Edward Waters University, a historically black college, where students living on campus were told to stay in their residence halls.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said the victims included two black men and one woman.
“This shooting was racially motivated and he hated black people,” Waters told reporters.
The suspect, a white male in his early 20s, was armed with a high-powered rifle and a handgun, wearing a tactical vest, according to Xinhua news agency.
Waters indicated that before the shooting, the shooter had authored “several manifestos,” detailing his hatred for black people.
The suspect shot himself after the attack. He was believed to have acted alone and no evidence suggested that he was part of a large group, according to police.
In the same vein, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan also called the deadly attack a hate crime.
