Sheriff provides the first details of how a white man fatally shot 3 Black people at a Florida store

The white man who fatally shot three Black people in a racist attack at a Florida store shot one of his victims as she sat in her car, chased another through the store and shot the third as he entered, Jacksonville’s sheriff said Sunday.

Shooter Ryan Palmeter, 21, legally purchased his guns in recent months even though he had been involuntarily committed for a mental health examination in 2017, Sheriff T.K. Waters said. He killed himself after killing his three victims.

Waters identified those shot in Saturday’s attack at a Dollar General as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, who was shot in her car; store employee A.J. Laguerre, 19, who was shot as he tried to flee; and customer Gerrald Gallion, 29, who was shot as he entered the store.

Palmeter used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a Glock handgun in the shooting, Waters said.

Palmeter lived with his parents in neighboring Clay County and had texted his father during the shooting and told him to break into his room, Waters said. The father then found a suicide note, a will and writings that Waters has described as racist.

AP writers John Raoux in Jacksonville, Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Trisha Ahmed in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Mike Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.