Authorities have released the names of the alleged gunman who opened fire on patrons at a Jacksonville Dollar General and his three victims. As previously reported by REVOLT, the mass shooting took place Saturday (Aug. 26) afternoon at the store located on Kings Road and Canal Street.
On Sunday (Aug. 27), the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department held a press conference announcing the white gunman’s identity as 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter. The Clayton County man reportedly turned the gun on himself after fatally wounding Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., 19, and Jarrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29. The nightmare ordeal unfolded within 11 minutes, beginning at 1:08 p.m.
Sheriff T.K. Waters said, “At 1:08 p.m., an 11-round ShotSpotter (gunshot censor) activated … The suspect’s on video in the parking lot in front of the store shooting into a black Kia and murders the first victim [Carr]. The suspect enters the Dollar General store and engages the second victim [Laguerre]. At 1:09 and 50 seconds, the first 911 call goes out,” he said, recounting a timeline of Palmeter’s actions. By 1:13 p.m., Gallion and his girlfriend entered the store. He was shot moments later. The sheriff also noted that several people were allowed to exit the store, some of whom were not white, for an unknown reason.
Waters further detailed how Palmeter texted his father at 1:18 p.m. and advised him to use a screwdriver to enter his room. It was then that the father found his son’s last will and testament and suicide note on his laptop. The Orange Park resident killed himself soon after. Police say he was armed with an AR-15-style rifle that had been inscribed with white swastikas and a loaded handgun. They say the killings were a targeted hate crime, and as a result, the FBI has opened a federal civil rights investigation.
Prior to unloading multiple rounds on the unsuspecting victims, Palmeter allegedly attempted to gain entry onto the campus of nearby Edward Waters University. He was turned away when he refused to show security his ID.