On August 26, 2023, three people were fatally shot by a gunman in a

mass shooting A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to Gun violence, kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking su ...

at a

Dollar General Dollar General Corporation is an American chain of discount stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of January 8, 2024, Dollar General operated 19,643 stores in the contiguous United States and Mexico. The company began in 1939 in ...

store in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. Authorities identified 21-year-old male Ryan Christopher Palmeter as the gunman. Palmeter shot and killed himself after he barricaded himself in an office. The incident has been described as a

terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war a ...

and racially motivated, and is currently under investigation as a

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

Shooting

According to police, by 11:39a.m., Palmeter left his home in

Clay County, Florida Clay County is a County (United States), county located in the First Coast, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida along the west bank of the St. Johns River. As of 2020, the population was 218,245 and in 2023, that number increased to ...

. At 12:48p.m., he arrived at

Edward Waters University Edward Waters University is a Private university, private Christian college, Christian Historically Black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Jacksonville, Florida. It was founded in 1866 by members of the African Metho ...

and released a

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

video of him putting on a

tactical vest Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tacti ...

. At 12:55p.m., campus security arrived at his location and asked for identification. Palmeter failed to identify himself and left the parking lot at 12:57p.m.; he was shadowed by a campus security officer who was leaving at 12:58p.m. Before 1:08p.m., the campus officer flagged down a police officer who then started processing a BOLO alert. At 1:08p.m., Palmeter shot 11 rounds into the front windshield of a car outside the Dollar General store, killing the driver. The gunfire triggered a nearby ShotSpotter device. He then entered the store and killed another victim. Palmeter wore a tactical vest, a face covering, blue rubber gloves, and ear protection during the shooting. Multiple people fled through the store's rear exit, with Palmeter exiting the same door shortly after. At 1:09p.m., a one-round ShotSpotter alert went off, followed by Palmeter reentering the store through the rear door and attempting to shoot a security camera but missing. At that time, the first 911 voice call was received. At 1:10p.m., two more customers entered the store through the front door. At 1:13p.m., Palmeter killed one of them, then chased the other person around the store, shooting at her but missing. The victim being chased was able to exit through the rear door, with Palmeter following after her, shooting out the same door, and then reentering the building. At 1:14p.m., Palmeter entered an office; four minutes later, he sent a text message to his father, instructing him to use a screwdriver to enter his room. There, his father found a

last will and testament A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate (law), estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its fi ...

and a

suicide note A suicide note or death note is a message written by a person who intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depend on ethnic ...

on Palmeter's laptop. At 1:19p.m., 11 minutes after the first shots were fired, police officers entered the building and heard a single shot, suspected to be Palmeter killing himself. His parents contacted the police at 1:53p.m. At 3:44p.m.,

SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

confirmed Palmeter was dead. At least three manifestos were found on his body, including those addressed to his parents, the news media, and federal agents. All three victims were black, consistent with an intent to kill black people as Palmeter wrote in the manifestos.

Victims

Three people, all of whom were black, were fatally shot. The victims were identified as Angela Michelle Carr, 52; Jerrald Gallion, 29; and Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., 19. Laguerre was an employee at the store.

Perpetrator

The shooter, Ryan Christopher Palmeter (November 28, 2001 – August 26, 2023), was a 21-year-old white male from

Orange Park, Florida Orange Park is a town in Clay County, Florida, United States. As a suburb of Jacksonville in neighboring Duval County, it is formally a part of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,089 at the 2020 cen ...

, who lived in the Oakleaf Plantation area of Jacksonville before he killed himself during the shooting. Palmeter was a former student at both Oakleaf High School and

Flagler College Flagler College is a private university, private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida. The school was founded in 1968 and offers 37 undergraduate majors and two master's programs. It also had a Flagler College – Tallahassee Campus, ...

. He was active on

4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, mu ...

8chan 8kun, previously called 8chan, Infinitechan or Infinitychan (stylized as ∞chan), is an imageboard website composed of user-created message boards. An owner moderates each board, with minimal interaction from site administration. The site ...

, and Soyjak.party. In 2016, he was the subject of a domestic police call between him and his brother. In 2017, he was the subject of a Baker Act call, used to place persons under involuntary detainment for mental health examination for up to 72 hours. During the call, Palmeter told police that he was distressed and planned to kill himself by jumping off the Bank of America Tower in downtown Jacksonville. Because he was a minor and was not committed to mental health care, he was allowed to purchase firearms as an adult. Jacksonville police showed images of Palmeter's

AR-15–style rifle An AR-15–style rifle is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on or similar to the Colt AR-15 design. The Colt model removed the selective fire feature of its predecessor, the original ArmaLite AR-15, which is a scaled-down derivative of t ...

bearing a

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

and racial slurs drawn in white sharpie, along with a

Glock Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

pistol without markings. He acquired the pistol in April 2023 and the rifle in June 2023. Both weapons were obtained legally through FFL-transfer, which require background checks, and the police said Palmeter was legally allowed to possess them. Palmeter's vest had a

Rhodesian Army The Rhodesian Security Forces were the military forces of the Rhodesian government. The Rhodesian Security Forces consisted of a ground force (the Rhodesian Army), the Rhodesian Air Force, the British South Africa Police, and various personnel ...

patch on it, a symbol which had previously been used by other white supremacists, including

Dylann Roof Dylann Storm Roof (born April 3, 1994) is an American mass murderer, white supremacist and neo-Nazi who perpetrated the Charleston church shooting. During a Bible study on June 17, 2015, at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charle ...

, the perpetrator of the

Charleston church shooting An Anti-Black racism, anti-black mass shooting and hate crime occurred on June 17, 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people were killed, and one was injured, during a Bible study (Christianity), Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist ...

Manifesto

In a manifesto reviewed by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' shortly after the shooting, Palmeter denounced

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

and Machine Gun Kelly for their close ties to black musical artists, identifying them as potential targets. He also praised mass killers like

Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist who masterminded and perpetrated the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The bombing itself killed 167 people (including 19 children), injured ...

Anders Behring Breivik Anders Behring Breivik (; born 13 February 1979), officially named Fjotolf Hansen from 2017 to 2025, and Far Skaldigrimmr Rauskjoldr av Northriki since March 2025, is a Norwegian neo-Nazi terrorist and mass murderer. He carried out the 2011 No ...

, and

Seung-Hui Cho Cho Seung-hui (; ; ; January 18, 1984 – April 16, 2007), anglicized as Seung-Hui Cho, was a South Korean mass murderer who perpetrated the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007. Cho killed 32 people and wounded 17 others with two semi-automatic pi ...

. In January 2024, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office released a manifesto written by Palmeter, titled ''A White Boy Summer to Remember''. Besides referencing the aforementioned mass murderers, he also extensively wrote about Brenton Tarrant, the perpetrator of the

Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...

, calling him a "main inspiration". He also referenced far right memes and literature, such as ''

The Turner Diaries ''The Turner Diaries'' is a 1978 novel by William Luther Pierce, the founder and chairman of National Alliance, an American white nationalist group, published under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald. It was initially syndicated in the National All ...

''.

Reactions

In response to the shooting, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

said that "white supremacy has no place in America." He also noted that the shooting had taken place on the same day as the commemoration for the 60th anniversary of the

March on Washington The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...

, a famous civil rights rally. Governor

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the 46th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Pa ...

issued a statement in which he referred to Palmeter as a "scumbag" and a "coward" for killing himself instead of facing responsibility for his actions. On August 27, DeSantis visited Jacksonville to attend a vigil for the victims. When he attempted to address the crowd, he was booed, forcing him to step away from the microphone. It prompted Jacksonville councilwoman Ju'Coby Pittman to step in and ask the mourners to settle down, saying, "We are going to put parties aside because it ain't about parties today," before adding "A bullet don't know a party." Florida state representative Angie Nixon criticized DeSantis and called the shooting "a stark reminder of the dangerous consequences of unchecked racism."

References