Jerrald Gallion entered the Dollar General store blocks away from Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday afternoon to pick up some items with his girlfriend.
He was met with gunfire. His girlfriend escaped bullets as she fled from the gunman, Ryan Christopher Palmeter, through the back door, according to authorities.
Palmeter wanted to wanted to kill Black people, according to authorities.
Related: ‘He Hated Black People’: Jacksonville Dollar General Shooter Reportedly Bragged to Family, Left Multiple Manifestos In Largest Hate Attack on African-Americans Since Buffalo Massacre
Just five minutes after killing Gallion, the father of a young girl, Palmeter texted his father at 1:18 p.m. and instructed him to use a screwdriver to enter his room, where police said he found a last will and testament and a suicide note on Palmeter’s laptop.
Palmeter also left manifestos where he declared his “disgusting ideology of hate” and his motive in the attack, according to Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters.
As police entered the building, Palmeter, 21, killed himself. The sheriff’s office earlier reported on social media that the suspect was pinned down.
About 11 minutes before shooting himself, Palmeter entered the parking of the store wearing a tactical vest and a face covering equipped with a handgun and high-powered rifle decorated with swastikas.
When Gallion walked in, the racist killer had already started his rampage.
“This was quite frankly a maniac who decided he wanted to take lives,” Waters said in a news conference on Sunday afternoon.
His first victim was Angela Carr, 52, and as he entered the store after 1 p.m., he killed a 19-year-old employee Anolt Joseph “A.J.” Laguerre Jr.
Waters said Palmeter was spotted on the grounds of the historically Black university around 12:48 p.m., where he reportedly put on his armor behind Edward Waters University’s library. He left as a security…
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