JACKSONVILLE, Fla — October 26, 2023 marked two months since a gunman murdered three people in a racially-motivated shooting at a Jacksonville Dollar General before killing himself. 52-year-old Angela Carr, 19-year-old Anolt (AJ) Laguerre Jr., and 29-year-old Jerrald Gallion died on what Sheriff T.K. Waters described as a ‘dark day in Jacksonville’s history.'
Just five days before the shooting, the FBI told First Coast News more young people in North Florida are becoming radicalized by online extremists spreading messages of hate and encouraging acts of violence.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says there is no evidence the 21-year-old killer was part of an organized group even though the FBI says it continues to review digital evidence related to the case. However, the swastikas painted on the killers AR-15 style rifle shows an unfortunate parallel to other instances of antisemitism recently emerging on the first coast.
On August 26, 2023 at 1:08 p.m., a masked gunman, who First Coast News is not naming, is seen on surveillance camera outside of the Dollar General on Kings Road wearing bulletproof vest. His first victim was an Uber driver outside, identified as Carr. He then entered the building, killing AJ Laguerre, who was a store clerk, and Gallion. All his victims were Black.
About 10 minutes later, the suspect's father called 911, reporting fears of what his son may do.
The killer’s father said he found disturbing writings by his son, who lived with his parents. He did not know where his son was.
His father told the dispatcher: “He, uh, flunked out of Flagler College, moved home about a couple years ago, had a job for a while at Home Depot and lost that job, and pretty much been living in his room.”
Inside the suspects' room was a last will and testament and three manifestos littered with racial slurs and expressing the desire to kill Black people. The guns used in the shooting were covered in swastikas and other writings. First Coast News Crime and Safety Expert Mark Baughman says the suspect was driven by hate, fear and ignorance.
“It gets fueled together and a lot of people carry it around, and they just feel that way, but they never act on it. Eventually, some people get to a point in their lives where the hate gets so bad and visceral, that they go out and they act on it," First Coast News Crime and Safety Expert Mark Baughman said.
Baughman believes the suspect acted as a ‘lone wolf,' but Anti-Defamation League Investigative Researcher Ben Popp says white supremacist shooters consider themselves part of a greater movement.
“While they might not be affiliated with any specific group or active in-person activities with white supremacist circles, they are consuming this content online, they are inspired by white supremacists who have committed similar shootings," Popp said.
Popp says racists and antisemites are becoming more outspoken. “Year by year we're seeing more things like white supremacist propaganda distribution and more antisemitic incidents nationally."
Those include numerous instances of racist flyers distributed in First Coast neighborhoods, the projection of swastikas on Downtown buildings, and Nazi demonstrations on city overpasses.
The FBI says the suspect was not on law enforcement’s radar prior to the shooting. However, he did have a history of mental and domestic instability including being involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility in 2017.
“To an extent, probably in person connections, they're always going to suffer when someone is spending more and more time online, and the people that are often radicalized in these spaces are spending a lot of time online," Popp said.
“I think it's important for parents to know what your kids are doing. If they're living in your house, especially under your roof, and they're locking the room or they have certain, you know, they have a safe in there or gun safe or whatever. I mean, what do you have that for? What are you doing? Even if they're adults," Baughman added.
The FBI is continuing to review digital evidence related to the case. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has not released the so-called manifesto citing the ongoing active investigation.