The man who gunned down three people in Florida on Saturday in what authorities say was a racially motivated act of violence had been turned away from a historically Black university just moments before the killings, CNN reports.
The shooter, whose identity has not yet been released, is believed to have been on the campus of Edward Waters University in Jacksonville just prior to the shooting, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
The school said in a statement that the man would not identify himself to a campus security officer and that he was asked to leave, but it was not immediately clear what prompted the interaction.
“The individual returned to their car and left campus without incident. The encounter was reported to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office by EWU security,” the university said in the statement.
Described as a White man in his early 20s, the gunman put on a mask and tactical vest and then went to a nearby Dollar General store, where he opened fire.
The shooter had an AR-15 style rifle and a handgun and began firing outside of the store before shooting inside. He shot and killed two males and one female, all of them Black, and fatally shot himself.
The university activated a lockdown and students living in dorms were advised to stay inside.
Investigators said the gunman wrote several manifestos that used racial slurs and reflected a “disgusting ideology of hate,” Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters told reporters at a news conference Saturday, according to First Coast News.
“This shooting was racially motivated, and he hated Black people,” Waters said.
At least one of the guns used also had swastikas drawn on it, according to images of the weapon displayed at the news conference.
There presently is no evidence the gunman knew the victims before shooting them. Authorities said the shooter lived in nearby Clay County with his parents. He had been involved in a 2016 domestic call that did not result in any arrests; he also had been confined in 2017 under the state’s Baker Act, a law that governs when someone can be temporarily committed for mental health reasons.
Law enforcement will investigate the shooter and his activities before the killings, but Waters emphasized that the deaths and the information already available about the motive for the attack have deeply ruptured the community.
“This is a dark day in Jacksonville’s history,” Waters told reporters, according to WJXT-TV. “Any loss of life is tragic, but the hate that motivated the shooter’s killing spree adds an additional layer of heartbreak.”
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Feature Photo: Edward Waters College: Centennial Hall/ Ebyabe, Wiki Images]
