By Sarah N. Lynch and Maria Caspani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The white gunman who shot and killed three Black people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, was identified as a 21-year-old who bought his guns legally and had no criminal history, local law enforcement said on Sunday.
The shooter, Ryan Christopher Palmeter, lived with his parents in a suburb of Jacksonville, Sheriff T.K. Waters told a press conference.
“There was no criminal record, nothing,” he said, adding that the only thing on file was a domestic violence call with his brother. “There were no red flags.”
Reuters could not immediately reach members of the shooter’s family for comment.
Authorities have described the shooting as racially motivated, saying the man had authored “several manifestos” for media, his parents and law enforcement detailing his hatred for Black people.
Waters said the suspect was caught on video shooting the first victim, a Black 52-year-old woman, in her car outside the Dollar General, a U.S. discount chain. He then entered the store where he shot and killed two Black men, aged 29 and 19.
Palmeter wore a tactical vest and his face was covered, Walters said. He carried a handgun and an “AR-15 style” rifle, with swastikas on it, referring to a lightweight semi-automatic long gun often used in mass shootings, police said.
On Saturday, he was spotted trying to enter a local historically Black college, Edward Waters University, before heading to the Dollar General store.
The university said in a statement that a man had refused to identify himself and had been turned away by a campus security officer. “It was later determined that the individual would be involved in a shooting near EWU campus,” the institution said.
(Reporting by Maria Caspani in New York and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
