Ryan Palmeter has been identified as the Jacksonville Dollar General store shooting suspect.

On Saturday evening, in Jacksonville, Florida, a gunman opened fire in a Dollar General store, leaving three people dead before turning the weapon on himself.

Sheriff T K Waters revealed that the attack was racially motivated and the suspect had left behind manifestos outlining his racist hatred. The victims, two men and a woman, were killed by a white man in his early 20s who wore body armor and carried a lightweight semi-automatic rifle and a handgun. This tragedy is being treated as a hate crime and has sparked widespread condemnation.

Who Was Ryan Palmeter? The Suspect Behind the Jacksonville Shooting

The identity of the shooter was later revealed to be 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, a resident of Clay County, Jacksonville. He entered the Dollar General store armed with a Glock handgun and an AR-15-style rifle, both of which had swastikas drawn on them.

Also Read: Three people dead in mass shooting at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida

The suspect, who reportedly posted racist writings, took his own life after the attack. Palmeter was seen on the campus of Edward Waters University just before the shooting, where he put on a ballistics vest. His social media presence was limited, with his Facebook page appearing to be deleted and only a single tweet from 2019 indicating his academic pursuits and graphic design skills.

Authorities have discovered that the suspect had left behind multiple manifestos that confirmed his hatred towards Black people and his intention to commit the shooting.

The incident, tragically occurring on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I have a dream” speech, is reminiscent of a deeply rooted history of racially motivated violence against Black Americans.

Also Read: Three people dead in mass shooting at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville residents and the nation at large are grappling with the sorrowful reality that such incidents continue to mar communities, further emphasizing the need for addressing systemic racism and gun violence.