Jacksonville Shooting: Gunman's Text to Father, Suicide Note Highlight Racist Attack

The white Jacksonville shooting gunman, who specifically targeted Black people while gunning them down with a gun scribbled with swastikas, also left behind several racist writings against African Americans.

Before going into his killing spree, white supremacist Ryan Palmeter, 21, lived with his parents and actually texted his father and left a suicide note. His family notified the authorities following the text but it was too late, Palmeter was already shooting up the Jacksonville Dollar General store, killing three unarmed African-American civilians.

The text that Palmeter sent told his father to break into his room and check his computer. There, the gunman left a suicide note, a will, and racist writings that showed his views against African Americans. This prompted his family to notify the police, according to the Associated Press.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office then stated that Palmeter made it very clear that he hated Black people after they reviewed his writings and added that he also left behind letters addressed to his family, federal law enforcement, and at least one media outlet.

The shooter initially went to the Edward Waters University campus, a traditionally Black college, but was turned away by a local campus security officer after he refused to identify himself. He then shot up a nearby Dollar General store instead.

Palmeter brought two guns to his mass shooting attack: a Glock handgun and an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle. The latter of which was scribbled with racist screed and Nazi symbols, including swastikas.

Campus Security Officer Who Scared Off Racist Mass Shooter Called a Hero

Meanwhile, the Edward Waters University security officer who turned away the mass shooter was hailed as a hero by many who attended the historically Black college. He leaped "right into action" after a car full of students pulled up beside his car and informed him of a suspicious man they saw in the faculty and staff parking lot.

According to NBC News, the man they saw put on a bulletproof vest, gloves, and a mask. The campus officer, named Lt. Antonio Bailey, then approached the suspicious individual. When the man saw Bailey, he sped off and jumped a curb before exiting the campus "at a high rate of speed."

After the man sped off, the school immediately moved its 1,200 students to safety. College president A. Zachery Faison Jr. praised the security officer and called him "our hero." However, in that same news conference, Bailey stated that he is not a hero.

"If anything, it's the students who alerted me so I could do my job," he said.

Jacksonville Shooting: The Latest in a Series of Racially-Motivated Mass Shootings

According to Vox, there has recently been a trend of racially motivated attacks prior to the Jacksonville shooting. The others occurred in Buffalo, Atlanta, Charleston, and Los Angeles.

The US is a high-income country. However, unlike other high-income countries, the US has a very high death toll from gun violence, with an average of 120 Americans dying from gun-related incidents every single day. This includes suicides and homicides as the number of gun deaths averages at 43,375 per year.

This is because there is easy access to guns in the US, with gun lobbyists going into action every time there is an effort to control guns.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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